In Florida, insurance companies are required to live up to the contractual responsibilities made to their policyholders under the policy of insurance. You can think of it like a contract. If your insurance company breaches your contract of insurance, you have a right to compensation for that breach. Depending on the specifics of your case, the insurance company may be acting in “bad faith.” In some cases, damages in excess of your policy limits may be awarded to you, and the insurance company may be required to pay your attorney’s fees and court costs. For more than 20 years, we have successfully represented clients just like you who have been wronged by their insurance companies in many different ways, including:
- Auto insurance companies failing to provide client’s waiver of uninsured motorist coverage, as required by statute, thereby allowing our client a recovery they otherwise did not know was available to them
- Insurance companies refusing to pay or reimburse an expense that was covered under the insurance policy
- Subjecting a policyholder to unreasonable and extreme measures in order the process a claim
- Refusing to settle a claim made against one of the insurance company’s other policyholders
- Failing to settle a claim within the Defendant’s policy limits, thereby subjecting the policyholder to personal liability
- Homeowner’s insurance companies failing to pay for damages due to a sinkhole claim
- Insurance claim disputes where your treating doctor is now seeking full payment from you
Have a question for us right now? You can contact us in any of the following ways:
- Telephone: 888-975-1110 (toll free) or 813-915-1110
- Online Consultation Form
- Instant Online Chat
- e-mail: hancock@lawhancock.com
Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will answer your questions, make recommendations, and provide you with a free, confidential evaluation of your insurance dispute or bad faith claim, all without obligation to use our legal services.
We believe in protecting our community. We make our community a safer place when you allow us to hold insurance companies accountable for the promises they break and the suffering and losses they inflict
We are compassionate and caring. When you contact Hancock & Hancock, P.A. about your insurance dispute or bad faith claim, either partner Michael Hancock or Claire Hancock will personally speak with you on the phone, or answer your questions by e-mail. After that, if you decide to proceed, you will personally meet with Michael or Claire to further discuss your claim. We will listen to your questions, and take as much time as necessary to answer them all. We know every client on a first name basis – and our clients know us.
We are smart. Michael and Claire know that we simply can’t bully our way into results by shouting “we are aggressive” or “we are tenacious.” The insurance companies and their attorneys aren’t impressed with such advertising or slogans. Investigation is important. Preparation is necessary. Strategy is critical. Experience counts. With more than 40 years of combined experience, we know how to handle your insurance dispute or bad faith claim.
We are strong. Our record of success is known throughout Florida. Our opponents know who we are and take us seriously. They know that we go into every case with the goal of holding the insurance company accountable for the damages they should pay, and achieving nothing less than full compensation for our clients.
Communities we serve include:
Services we provide in Tampa Bay include:
FAQs For Tampa Bay Insurance Claim Disputes
And Bad Faith Claims Lawyers
Hancock & Hancock, P.A.
Michael and Claire Hancock
- Why won’t the insurance adjuster just pay me? Why is making an insurance claim so difficult?
- If I think that an insurance adjuster is acting in bad faith, what can I do?
- How much does a lawyer cost?
Why won’t the insurance adjuster just pay me? Why is making an insurance claim so difficult?
No matter how sympathetic they may seem, adjusters who work for insurance companies have only one goal in mind when they offer to settle your case. It is their job to settle your insurance claim with paying you the least amount of money possible. Insurance companies are businesses. The goal of insurance companies is to take your premiums/money in - not to pay claims/money out. Also, by delaying claims or otherwise creating an insurance claim dispute, insurance companies are able to hold on to money a little longer – money that is invested somewhere earning them money.
If I think that an insurance adjuster is acting in bad faith, what can I do?
Document, document, document! Create a file folder for your insurance claim – you will have a lot of documents and notes by the time the claim is completed, so it is important to stay organized and have a place to put things. Such evidence might also be necessary to prove your case in court. Whenever you are speaking on the phone with any adjuster, write down his/her name, address, phone number, date of the conversation and generally what you are told. Follow up your phone conversation with a letter, e-mail message or fax to the adjuster setting out your understanding of the phone conversation. Keep a copy for yourself. If you feel it is very important, consider sending your letter by registered mail, return receipt requested. If documents are requested from you, make sure you keep your originals, send only a copy, and include a dated cover letter to the adjuster setting out a list of those documents or things that you are providing. Of course keep a copy of this cover letter also. Adjusters create a claim file, you should also do the same for yourself.
The accident attorneys at Hancock & Hancock take cases on a contingency fee contract approved by The Florida Supreme Court. This means that our clients do not pay at the beginning of the case - payment to us is contingent on us recovering money for you. At the end of the case, either when your case is settled prior to trial or after a jury verdict, you pay a percentage of the money you receive, in addition to court costs advanced my us. If there is no money recovered for you, you do not pay attorney’s fees or costs.
The percentage of attorney’s fees depends on at what point your recovery occurs. Our contingency fee contract provides for 33 1/3% of the recovery prior to the filing of the lawsuit, what is referred to as “pre-suit” or “pre-litigation,” up through the time that an answer to the lawsuit is filed by the defendant, in addition to the recovery of court costs advanced by the firm. If the case has not settled prior to this point, then the percentage increases to 40% of the recovery, through the end of trial, in addition to the recovery of court costs advanced.
Examples of court costs which our firm advances on your behalf include the following: court filing fees (filing fees are required by a court before it will accept legal papers); expert fees (experts and consultants charge for their time in evaluating cases and testifying in court and depositions, sometimes thousands of dollars); fees to obtain medical records; postage; deposition costs (certified court reporters charge for taking down testimony at depositions and providing written transcripts of testimony), etc. We are proud of our firm philosophy to keep your advanced costs down to a minimum, so as to maximize your recovery. We will not “nickel-and-dime” you with such charges as long-distance telephone costs, costs for sending a fax or a “file set-up fee,” for which some firm charge hundreds of dollars.
Communities we serve include:
Services we provide in Tampa Bay include:
If you are frustrated by a case of insurance bad faith in Florida, contact our Florida law firm for a free, immediate and confidential evaluation of your case. Attorneys Michael Hancock or Claire Hancock will personally provide detailed and comprehensive answers to your important questions by reviewing your online consultation form, evaluating your claim and responding to you, either by e-mail or by telephone, within 24 hours. If you prefer, call attorneys Michael Hancock or Claire Hancock in Tampa
at 813-915-1110 or toll free from anywhere in the United States at
888-975-1110. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We will answer your questions, without charge, and there is no obligation to use our services.
