Going after insurance company!

[forthejeep]

What is the name of your state? Oregon
Long story short… My windshield was broken by a rocks falling from a cement truck. A claim was sent in the same day. It took 22 days for the insurance company to respond with a denial. I called to find out why and they said the investigation concluded that the facts do not justify making a payment. I said I had not been contacted by anyone and I was not aware of an investigation. After looking into it they found that an investigation had not been done so they re-opened the claim. I have called them 19 times in the last five months to get an update. They have never returned a call. The few times I actually contacted a person they said the investigation is still ongoing and they are waiting for a driver’s statement. It has now been over five months. Today they called to tell me that they contacted the driver this week and the driver said that the driver said they don’t recall hauling anything that day that could have fallen from the truck. Therefore they will not pay the claim. The incident happened five months ago!! I want to take them to small claims court. I asked for a copy of the investigation report and they say they don’t have to give it to me. How do I get this legally?
How does the bad faith law work? Are they required to respond to my claim within a certain time frame? Are they supposed to conduct a reasonable investigation?

 

[forthejeep]

Update- Going after insurance co.

I just got a call from the insurance company. They have re-evaluated my claim and wiil issue payment this week. Chalk one up to the little guy. My advice to everyone is document everthing! I created a phone log, kept all the documents and correspondence and got names of everyone I talked to. When they called me this morning to deny my claim I pulled all notes and read them to the insurance representative. I mentioned the research I did regarding my rights and the "bad faith" laws. They realized that if I persued this legally, they would'nt have a leg to stand on. KEEP GOOD RECORDS!

 

[Lynx 36]

Congrats on getting it taken care of. A claimant would almost definitely lose a lawsuit f/ "bad faith" against an insurance company, as the company has no written contact w/ you guaranteeing you anything. They aren't your insurance company. In other words they have no policy w/ you.

They realized that you would sue the client in small claims court. They would have to provide an atty f/ their client, would also lose in court possibly. A windshield is a couple hundred bucks. it would have cost them more to fight it than to just pay it and be done.