INSURANCE BROKER MALPRACTICE

If an insurance claim is denied because of an error by the broker who sold the insurance, Morgan & Morgan can fight to hold them accountable and get the policyholders compensated.

Buying insurance is a serious thing. Whether it’s home, life, medical, or another kind of insurance, for most people that purchase is a cornerstone of their financial long-term planning.

Because of the gravity of this decision, many people choose to use a broker to help them navigate the process. The broker has a well-defined task: help find the best insurance policy for their needs, and once the choice is made, ensure that the policy is legally active. But what happens when a broker fails at that basic task? A financial future can be destroyed.

A Serious Responsibility

A family, individual, or business that is relying on an insurance policy payout to keep them going in the event of damage from a natural disaster, a death in the family, or even a stolen vehicle, cannot afford to have their claim denied. Yet that is exactly what can happen if an error or negligence by their broker causes their policy to become invalid, inactive, or if it never covered them properly in the first place.

In situations like these, the insurance company may be completely innocent: They were never legally obligated to pay anything. The only recourse policyholders might have is to pursue compensation for their loss from the broker.

Morgan & Morgan can help you do that. Call now for your free, no-obligation case review.

What Is Broker Negligence?

There are a variety of ways a broker can mess up that end up costing the policyholders their payout in a time of need. For example:

• Not getting the requested coverage, and not informing the policyholder of what’s actually in the policy.
• Failing to fill out the application properly, allowing the insurance company to deny a claim based on application errors.
• Misrepresenting the condition of the person or property being covered in the application process, allowing the insurance company to deny the claim because of that misrepresentation.
• Failure to notify the insurance company of a claim within the prescribed claim window.
• Failure to notify the policyholder of premature cancelation of the policy, or of financial troubles at the insurance company that would prevent them from fulfilling policy claims.

All of these, and more, are situations we’ve encountered. In all of them, it was the negligence of the broker that caused the policyholder to lose their legal right to the policy payout. In all of these cases, the policyholders might have a strong legal claim to demand compensation for the loss of that payout.

Can Broker Negligence be Proven?

It can be complicated, but yes. There is often a “paper trail” in the form of written communications like email, text, or fax, copies of application documents, and sometimes even simple phone records.

For example, in one case in New York state, a commercial property suffered severe damage during Hurricane Irene. The policyholder called their broker to notify them of the damage and get the claims process started, but the broker failed to file the claim with the insurance company before the deadline, eventually causing the claim to be rejected. The policyholder was able to successfully sue and collect $4 million in damage compensation from the broker in part because phone records proved that they had contacted the broker in a timely manner and that the broker had failed to do their duty.

But even if you don’t think you have the evidence you need right now, our Insurance Recovery Group lawyers may still be able to help.

Fighting for the Compensation you Deserve

If you or a loved one has lost out on an insurance policy payout due to broker error or negligence, we want to fight for you. At Morgan & Morgan, we fight for the people who’ve suffered serious financial loss through no fault of their own.

The broker took on the responsibility of ensuring that your insurance policy was locked in and covered the things you needed it to cover. You shouldn’t have to pay for their failure. Call us today, and let us get started working for you.