How Long Do You Have to File a Bad Faith Insurance Claim?

Insurance is a necessary expense that helps you in the event of an accident. When you’re insured, you can feel more in control after a collision that causes damage to your vehicle. Even though it’s frustrating and scary to deal with damages and injuries after a car wreck, having insurance can be comforting because it will likely cover many of your expenses that you’re left with after an accident that wasn’t your fault.

However, insurance companies want to look out for their bottom lines. This means that they don’t want to give you a payout for a penny more than you deserve. Sometimes, they may even wrongfully deny your insurance claim or withhold a settlement to save their company money. When they do that, it’s considered acting in bad faith, and is wrong.

If you’ve experienced an insurance company acting in bad faith against you, then you could use legal help from Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC. Our attorneys will fight to get you the compensation you deserve from the insurance company so that you can start recovering from your injuries and damages without worrying about your bills.

Mississippi Bad Faith Insurance Statute of Limitations

When you’ve been wrongfully denied a settlement from your insurance company, you’re likely looking for what you can do to recover that money that you’re owed. You could file a bad faith insurance claim, but first you’ll need to understand the state’s laws surrounding them so that you are operating within the parameters of the law.

Mississippi’s bad faith insurance statute of limitations determines how long you have to file a bad faith insurance claim against your insurance company. According to the state’s statute of limitations, you have three years from the date of the denied claim to file a bad faith insurance case against your insurance company.

This means you have three years to file a claim. If you wait longer than three years, you are no longer eligible to recover financial compensation from the wrongly denied insurance claim or withheld settlement. That’s why it’s important to get started right away after the insurance company acts in bad faith.

What to Do Before Filing

Even before filing an insurance claim, it’s important to collect as much evidence of your accident as possible so that if there is a dispute, you have proof of what happened and that you should be able to recover damages from your insurance policy. Here are the steps you should take before filing an insurance claim in general, and also to prepare for the possibility of your insurance company acting in bad faith:

• Take pictures of the scene and any other relevant factors, like injuries.
• Get a copy of the police report, if relevant.
• Keep all of your receipts for medical bills, repair costs, and any other costs you incurred directly from the accident.
• Get copies of your relevant medical records.
• Collect all the witness statements that you can to corroborate your other information.
• Have copies of your insurance policy and what it covers.
• Keep copies of all correspondence you’ve had with your insurance company and make sure that there are dates attached.
• Record phone calls and any other communication if possible.

After an accident that warrants filing an insurance claim to recover what you deserve from the damages, you might trust that your insurance company is on your side and wants to help you. That’s not always the case, and sometimes they are more interested in keeping as much money as they possibly can. But you can’t always trust them to do the right thing, which is why you want to follow the above steps after any accident so that you have ample documentation and proof to prove you deserve a payout for your claim.

Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC Can Help You

You only have three years to file a bad faith insurance claim, which is why you want to get started as quickly as possible when you suspect that your insurer has acted in bad faith. At Pittman Roberts & Welsh, PLLC, we’re here to represent you against your insurance company so that you can recover the financial compensation that you deserve for your injuries.

Our bad faith insurance lawyers are prepared to fight for you against the company who is wrongfully denying you the settlement you deserve. Reach out to our office today so we can get started discussing your legal options.