Key Takeaways
- Insurance Companies Have Duties: Your insurer must handle your claim fairly and promptly. When they don't, it may be "bad faith."
- You Can Sue Your Own Insurance: If your insurer wrongly denies or delays your claim, Oklahoma law lets you sue them—not just for the policy amount, but for additional damages.
- Keep Records: Document everything. Every letter, every phone call, every denial. If it comes to a lawsuit, this evidence matters.
You've been paying your car insurance for years. You finally need to use it—and they say no. Or they say yes but offer you far less than your claim is worth. Or they just stop returning your calls and let your claim sit for months. It feels wrong. That's because it might be illegal.
Insurance companies have legal obligations to treat you fairly. When they don't, Oklahoma law calls it "bad faith"—and it gives you the right to fight back.
What Is Bad Faith?
Bad faith is when an insurance company doesn't hold up its end of the bargain.
When you buy insurance, you're making a deal: you pay premiums, and in exchange, the company promises to pay valid claims when something goes wrong. Bad faith happens when the company breaks that promise—not through honest mistakes, but by being unreasonable or unfair.
In Oklahoma, insurance companies must:
- Investigate claims promptly
- Communicate with you about what's happening
- Pay valid claims without unreasonable delay
- Offer a fair amount when your claim is covered
When they violate these duties, you don't have to just accept it.
Common Examples of Bad Faith
Denying a valid claim without a good reason. Your policy covers the damage, but they say it doesn't—based on some technicality or interpretation that doesn't hold up.
Offering way less than the claim is worth. You have $30,000 in medical bills and they offer you $5,000, hoping you're desperate enough to take it.
Taking forever to process your claim. Months go by with no decision. They keep asking for more documents, never giving you an answer.
Not investigating properly. They deny your claim without even looking into what happened.
Changing their reason for denial. First they say one thing, then they say something else. They're looking for excuses, not truth.
Not returning calls or responding to letters. They make it so hard to communicate that you might just give up.
The Difference Between Frustrating and Illegal
Not every frustrating insurance experience is bad faith. Insurance companies can:
- Ask for documentation before paying
- Investigate claims to verify they're valid
- Disagree with you about how much something is worth
- Deny claims that actually aren't covered
The line between "frustrating" and "bad faith" comes down to whether the company's behavior is reasonable. Honest mistakes are one thing. Deliberate unfairness is another.
That's why documentation matters. When you can show a pattern of unreasonable behavior—delays without explanation, changing stories, ignoring your communications—it starts to look like bad faith.
What You Can Recover
If your insurance company acted in bad faith, Oklahoma law lets you recover more than just the amount they should have paid in the first place. You may be able to get:
The amount owed under your policy. What they should have paid from the beginning.
Extra damages for harm the delay caused. If their wrongful denial caused you financial problems—bills going to collections, losing your car, having to borrow money—you may be able to recover for that.
Emotional distress. Dealing with a bad faith insurance company is stressful. That stress can be part of your damages.
Punitive damages. In serious cases, the court can award extra money specifically to punish the insurance company and discourage others from doing the same thing.
Attorney fees. In some cases, the insurance company may have to pay your lawyer.
These additional damages are what make bad faith cases different from ordinary contract disputes. The law recognizes that insurance companies have power over policyholders, especially when the policyholder really needs the money. That power comes with responsibility.
What to Do If You Think Your Claim Is Being Mishandled
Document everything. Keep every letter, email, and piece of paper. After phone calls, write down what was said, who said it, and when. This evidence will be important if you need to prove bad faith.
Follow the process. Submit what they ask for in writing. Meet their deadlines. Make it hard for them to say you didn't do your part.
Request explanations in writing. If they deny your claim or make a low offer, ask them to explain why in a letter. Written explanations become evidence.
Don't accept an offer out of desperation. If you sign and accept a settlement, you usually can't come back later—even if the amount was unfair.
Talk to a lawyer. Bad faith cases are complex. An experienced attorney can tell you whether you have a case and what it might be worth. Most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations.
You pay your insurance premiums expecting protection when you need it. When your insurance company treats you unfairly, you have the right to hold them accountable. Bad faith law exists because Oklahoma recognizes that insurance companies shouldn't be able to break their promises without consequences.
At Addison Law, we handle insurance bad faith claims for people whose insurance companies have let them down. If you think your claim is being mishandled, contact us for a free consultation.
Insurance Company Giving You a Hard Time?
You don't have to accept it. We can help.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.
Need Strategic Counsel?
Navigating complex legal landscapes requires more than just knowledge; it requires strategic foresight. Contact Addison Law Firm today.
*This article is for general information only and is not legal advice.*