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Insurance companies have a legal duty to act fairly when dealing with compensation claims. As an equal party in an insurance contract, your provider has an obligation to fulfill their promise of protecting you from losses that result from personal injury or property damage. Unfortunately, some insurers may try to engage in techniques designed to subvert justice, giving rise to bad faith insurance. … [Read more...] about 4 Signs of Bad Faith Insurance

According to The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, over $80 billion is lost to fraudulent insurance claims. This is bad news for both insurance companies and consumers alike as increased premiums and scrutiny of claims affect your insurance policies. However, increased scrutiny and vigilance meant to discourage insurance fraud sometimes means that your incredibly valid claim is denied. That’s … [Read more...] about How to Find the Best Insurance Fraud Attorney in Brookings

Clients often bring us insurance-related problems that end up having more to do with the quality of the insurance product than with an insurance company misapplying its own policy provisions or not paying claims under a policy. Whether the policy does not cover a lot because the “grant of coverage” is narrow or there are exclusions that take away most of what the grant of coverage does allow, the … [Read more...] about Sucker Buys: Know What You Are Buying

We have previously written about how evidence of liability insurance is excluded from most civil jury trials. However, there is another exclusion in South Dakota law for other types of insurance that can apply to your personal injury claim. If you choose, you can exclude evidence of health insurance, Medicare, or other help you have received after an injury. For example, let us say that a child … [Read more...] about The Collateral Source Rule as Compared to the Evidentiary

“My car was not damaged, but I still hurt almost every day.” We at Turbak Law Office hear this often. And in other instances, vehicles are totaled, and everyone walks away and is at work in a few days. Yet many people think that low property damage means no injury. Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, hundreds of thousands of people sustain neck, back, and brain injuries every year … [Read more...] about Property Damage as Compared to Injuries

Many insurance companies deny claims, yet you dutifully met your end of the deal. In the event of loss, you are required to provide the necessary documentation to prove the legitimacy of your loss. On the other hand, your insurer is expected to conduct a full investigation of the claim promptly, then make a reasonable settlement. Unfortunately, some insurance companies will resort to all manner … [Read more...] about Filing a Claim Against Your Insurance Company with the South Dakota Division of Insurance

When a business uses unfair or deceptive means to sell you something, or to profit unfairly from your business it is not just an inconvenience: it may actually be a violation of law. Such misleading business practices, often referred to as unfair trade practices, can be especially harmful when they are performed by insurance companies acting in bad faith. If you have been a victim of unfair trade … [Read more...] about The Basics of the Unfair Trade Practices Act