Can I Sue My Insurance Company for Emotional Distress?

Dealing with insurance in any capacity can be an extremely difficult process for anyone. If you’re wondering whether you are entitled to damages sustained from any emotional distress caused by your insurance company, the answer may be yes. 

Contacting an experienced personal injury attorney can help determine whether you have a strong lawsuit against your insurance company for emotional distress. Emotional distress claims are difficult enough to argue as is, so it’s important to have strong legal counsel by your side.

Understanding Emotional Distress in Insurance Claims

Filing an emotional distress claim in Miami can be challenging, but not impossible, with help from a qualified personal injury attorney. The Florida Impact Rule established a legal precedent for awarding damages for emotional distress, requiring someone to have been physically injured in some manner to seek emotional distress damages. 

However, the state also allows exceptions to the rule, which include the following types of emotional distress claims:

• IIED (intentional infliction of emotional distress): Occurs when someone engages in extremely outrageous conduct intended to cause severe emotional harm.
• NIED (negligent infliction of emotional distress): Occurs when someone’s carelessness causes emotional harm to another.

For example, witnessing a traumatic, violent, or catastrophic event would fall under these exceptions. 

What Is Emotional Distress? 

Emotional distress is a type of mental health suffering that can be caused by experiencing traumatic or extremely stressful events, which can cause:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Anger
• Humiliation
• Grief
• Unfounded fears

The duration, severity, and symptoms of emotional distress vary based on the specific circumstances in which it occurred. In some cases, it can become chronic and have significant impacts on one’s daily routines.

When Can You Sue for Emotional Distress?

Like any lawsuit, it’s essential to ensure you have legal grounds to sue your insurance company before filing a claim. The most important legal grounds for your case include negligence and bad faith. Establishing these elements will likely ensure your success in your suit against your insurance company. An experienced attorney will assess the facts of your case to determine whether these elements exist in your claim. 

Types of Damages Recoverable in an Emotional Distress Claim

• Non-economic damages: Emotional distress is considered an intangible injury that does not have an actual monetary value. The extent of your trauma, mental suffering, and impact on your quality of life, along with a multiplier, is used to determine the amount of compensation you can seek.
• Economic damages: Economic damages are tangible losses with an actual monetary value. For emotional distress claims, you could seek monetary damages for physical and mental health treatment costs, prescription costs, and loss of income.  
• Punitive damages: In cases where the defendant’s conduct was reckless, intentional, or grossly negligent, the court may punish them by awarding punitive damages.

How To Prove an Emotional Distress Claim in a Lawsuit Against an Insurance Company

Proving an emotional distress claim requires having sufficient proof of psychological harm caused by the defendant. Building a strong case when suing an insurance company for negligence involves:

• Existence of emotional distress: You must be able to substantiate your claim of emotional distress through medical records and related treatment.  
• Medical and psychological evidence: Your health care and mental health care providers can provide valuable information about the state of your emotional distress, and the impacts it is having on your livelihood. 
• Witness testimony: Friends, family members, and co-workers can offer witness testimony about how your emotional distress is affecting your life, relationships, and work. 
• Expert testimony: Medical and mental health experts, separate from your providers, can be called upon to provide testimony to support your claim.
• Bad faith evidence against the insurance company: The insurance company acted fraudulently, dishonestly, or unreasonably in handling your claim, and their actions are directly linked to your emotional distress. 

An Experienced Attorney Can Help You Sue for Emotional Distress

For the most part, emotional distress is simply a damage awarded in cases handling bodily injury; however, bodily injury is not always necessary to be successful in suing for emotional distress, especially when suing an insurance company. 

While calculating damages may be difficult in these types of cases, our attorneys at Bernstein & Maryanoff, Injury Attorneys, are confident we can assist you in obtaining the maximum compensation available to you.

Call Bernstein & Maryanoff, Injury Attorneys, To Discuss Your Options

You don’t have to accept it when the insurance company causes you any form of emotional distress in any capacity. Our legal team is eager to help you stand up for yourself against insurance companies, regardless of how they may have caused you to suffer emotionally.

Our attorneys here at Bernstein & Maryanoff, Injury Attorneys, have been helping clients get the compensation they deserve for more than three decades. Reach out as soon as possible to see how we can help you. There is no fee unless you win.

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