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.

Legal Grounds To Sue Your Insurance Company

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. 

Negligence

As with any personal injury case, it’s essential to establish negligence in order to be successful. Without being able to demonstrate negligence on behalf of the defendant, you are unlikely to have a successful lawsuit on your hands. The elements of negligence required to establish a claim against an insurance company include: 

• You must be able to prove the insurance company has a legal duty
• You must be able to show that the insurance company breached that duty
• You must be able to establish that the insurance company’s actions caused harm. A party can demonstrate the harm caused by the defendant by showing that the defendant was the proximate cause of the harm, i.e., they were the cause of your directly related harm. More specifically, you must be able to show that you would not have suffered any emotional distress if not for the insurance company’s negligence. 

When suing your insurance company for emotional distress, you must prove your insurance company was grossly negligent. 

Bad Faith

When an insurance company intentionally neglects to perform duties necessary according to your policy, you are likely to establish that they acted in bad faith and caused emotional distress. State law determines what constitutes bad faith, making it important to contact an attorney familiar with the jurisdictional requirements. If you are filing a claim against your insurance company in Miami, then it is a good idea to get in touch with a Florida attorney, as they will be able to guide you through your bad faith claims.

Suing Your Insurance Company for Emotional Distress Is Not Easy

Unsurprisingly, it’s not easy to go about suing your insurance company for emotional distress. This is why it’s essential to contact an experienced attorney right away. 

Emotional Distress Is Considered a “Non-Economic” Damage

According to Cornell Law School, emotional distress is defined as “Mental suffering as an emotional response to an experience that arises from the effect or memory of a particular event, occurrence, pattern of events or condition. Emotional distress can usually be discerned from its symptoms (ex. Anxiety, depression, loss of ability to perform tasks, or physical illness).” 

For many people, emotional distress is the result of an event stemming from intentional harm caused by the negligent behavior of another party. While suing strictly for emotional distress can be difficult, it is possible should you be assisted by an attorney with experience handling such complex cases. 

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. The Bernstein & Maryanoff Injury Attorneys legal team is eager to help you stick 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.

Sources: 

Emotional Distress.

Goguen, D. What is Proximate Cause in a Car Accident Case? 

Negligence.