What information should your Palm Beach County accident attorney obtain from a claims adjuster and what other sources of information are available in a Bad Faith Case?

The adjuster is like the lifeline of your claim for insurance benefits because they handle the correspondence between you and the insurance company. This means they have the most information about your claim and should be able to provide information that would be helpful to your claim. However, they are in an adversarial position to your benefits in a bad faith claim, so the court allows a plaintiff’s attorney to take a deposition of the adjuster to gain insightful information about the bad faith claim. Typically, after completing an examination of the adjuster’s file, the plaintiff’s attorney will schedule a deposition immediately after to prevent the opposing counsel from preparing the adjuster for questioning. During the deposition, the plaintiff’s attorney should inquire about the all the conversations that the attorney had with the adjuster and all correspondence letters between the attorney and the adjuster. When the claimants retains the same attorney in a bad faith claim as a previous claim against the insurer that is the subject of the bad faith claim, the attorney should include a request for admissions seeking the defendant’s admission that the attached memos/letters accurately reflect the communication between the attorney and the adjuster. Absent this, the attorney may be forced to testify as a witness and it would be advisable for the plaintiff to retain a different attorney. Equally important is that your Palm Beach County accident attorney is trying to establish a repeated pattern with the adjuster or the insurance company that would constitute bad “business practice.” With this in mind, the adjuster should also be questioned about prior insurance employers, and the reason for departure. Moreover, the plaintiff’s attorney should check with other adjusters/attorneys about the reputation of the adjuster in question and the insurance company. Other attorneys will be able to provide helpful information about their experiences with the insurance company and also with the particular adjuster, possibly proving to be good witnesses if the need arises. State regulatory agencies also keep file of grievance complaints against an insurer, and these records can be requested from The Department of Financial Services. These documents can also be recovered through the appropriate agencies in different states.