Bad Faith Letter

BAD FAITH LETTER

_____________, 20__

VIA EMAIL & FAX

Laura Lawyer

Firm Name

E-mail address

Fax number

Re: Plaintiff v. Defendant

Case No: 11-120286-NI

Dear Ms. Attorney:

This letter is written is response to your failure to settle the claim of my client, Plaintiff. Given Insurance Company’s unreasonable settlement posture, please allow this letter to serve as a notice of bad faith.

As the Supreme Court has stated in Commercial Union v. Liberty Mutual, 426 Mich. 127 (1896), aggravating factors of bad faith include:

Failure to keep your insured fully informed of all developments in the claim or suit that could reasonably affect the interest of the insured.

Failure to inform the insured of all settlement offers within policy limits .

Undue delay in accepting the reasonable offer to settle a potentially dangerous case within the policy limits where the verdict potential is high .

Failure to solicit a settlement offer or initiate settlement negotiations when warranted under the circumstances .

Failure to accept a reasonable compromised offer of settlement when the facts of the case or claim indicate obvious liability and serious injuries .

Rejection of a reasonable offer of settlement within the policy limits .

Failure to make a proper investigation of the claim before refusing an offer of settlement for the policy limits.

Serious and recurrent negligence by the insurer.

As I know you are aware, my client was a pedestrian who was hit by your insured’s vehicle. Liability is clear. Your insured received a hazard action of “3” for failing to yield. Plaintiff did not receive a hazard action. It is clear that your insured is 100% responsible for causing the collision.

My client has suffered severe injuries, including, but not limited to, extensive damage to her cervical and lumbar spine. Most notably, my client suffers from miserable pain caused by disc herniations in his cervical and lumbar spine, amongst other injuries. As a result of his severe injuries, Plaintiff required multiple injections into his cervical spine and an anterior cervical decompression and fusion surgery that involved cutting into his neck and placing metal permanently on his spine. Clearly, his damages are well in excess of your $100,000.00 insurance policy.

Based on Plaintiff’s injuries and the facts of this case, it is reasonable to believe that a jury will return a verdict for substantially more than your...