Bahamas - Negligence Claims Against Insurance Agents

While bad faith is a prevalent issue surrounding insurance litigation, often a plaintiff’s claim will rest on a theory of negligence.  In many situations, a denial of coverage is the result of an insurance agent negligently managing your paperwork or committing an error when evaluating your file.  Insurance agents may be negligent in selling and handling a variety of insurance policies, including homeowners, disability, and medical insurance.

If your medical claim was rejected or your coverage was denied due to the negligence of an insurance agent, you may be able to take legal action against the insurance provider for this breach of duty.  If the provider deliberately denied coverage on a legitimate claim without cause, you may have a bad faith insurance claim against the provider.

Insurance agent negligence may occur at the time you purchase your policy or after you have filed a claim.  Based on your individual needs, an agent has a duty to advise you in selecting the appropriate type and amount of insurance. Unfortunately, this duty may be overlooked or deliberately disregarded, especially since many agents sell insurance on commission. An experienced insurance litigator can pinpoint the error and determine whether it amounts to negligence or bad faith.

Insurance agent liability for negligence encompasses a wide range of conduct, including misleading, inaccurate, and insufficient purchase advice, incomplete explanation of coverage terms, order entry error resulting in the wrong type of coverage being provided, documentation and payment errors, and failure to inform the policyholder of coverage changes.  To establish a negligence claim, relevant factors include any fee or commission received by the agent, the number of communications between the policyholder and agent, the number of purchases made, and the level of sophisticated language involved in the insurance policy purchased.

A successful negligence claim can help you recover the difference between the coverage provided and what you would have received but for the agent’s negligence.  Additional damages resulting from the negligence, such as attorney’s fees, may also be recoverable. An attorney with insurance agent negligence experience can assist you in pursuing such a claim. If your coverage has been negatively affected due to an agent’s negligence, you should contact a Bahamian professional negligence attorney.  You can contact a Bahamian professional negligence attorney by clicking here.