How can I get my insurance company to pay my claim?
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How can I get my insurance company to pay my claim?
A couple months ago there was fire damage to my vehicle. The police/fire department took it to the pound and my insurance company picked it up from there. I never got a chance to see my vehicle but my insurer called it a total loss. I have been cooperating with them doing 2 hour interviews where I had to drive over a hour to get there. However, now they are treating me like a criminal; they want me to go to their attorney and do another under oath interview plus want tax records for years even before I had the vehicle, phone records, my daughter’s info (even though my daughter is not on my policy). Now the loan company has me delinquent on payments because the insurance company won’t pay for the vehicle that they have in their possession. What can I do?
Asked on November 22, 2016 under Insurance Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
If you believe that the insurer is violating its contractual obligation to pay--that is, its contractual obligation (since an insurance policy is a contract) to pay under these circumstances--you can sue them for breach of contract. In the lawsuit, you'll have to show the terms of the policy (easily done, with the policy itself), the facts of the fire, and therefore that under the policy, they should have paid. They in turn can present any defenses they have such as--for example--their evident belief that this was insurance fraud (since insurers do not need to pay if their insured caused the fire, lied on the application, or lied in the claim). The court will then decide who is right and who is wrong, and whether (and how much) you should be paid.
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