Insurance Bad Faith and BP Oil Spill Claims

Insurance companies are usually the default means for getting compensation after an accident or disaster, presuming of course the coverage is there. But in all the hullaballoo and issues about the part of British Petroleum (BP) and its partners in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, most people affected by the event have focused on oil spill claims against the fiercely contested settlement program rather than property damage or business loss insurance claims. But business and property owners may actually make a claim with their own insurers for the losses they sustained because of the oil spill over and above what they may or may not receive under BP’s settlement program.

It could be tricky, though. Insurance companies are notorious for quickly denying claims on any pretext and slowly acting on potentially valid ones, and if the policyholder is unsure about their rights, they are easy prey for insurance bad faith practices. According to the website of insurance bad faith attorneys of Smith Kendall PLLC, insurance companies are more likely to exhaust all avenues to avoid liability rather than confirm the trust their policyholders have placed on them to protect them from the financial consequences of an accident or disaster.

Property damage and business economic loss policies are typically acquired as a matter of course, and may even be required by law so many policyholders are not entirely conversant with what it actually covers. Crucial to an insurance claim under the circumstances presented by the BP oil spill are the exceptions. Most policies will contain sweeping conditions that narrow the liability of the insurer considerably, and because the jargon used is generally technical and obfuscating, it requires considerable knowledge of insurance law to understand what they are actually saying in layman terms.

If you want to make a claim against your own insurance for damage caused by the BP oil spill, expect to come up against a lot of legal leg-pulling. Consult with an insurance lawyer to help you in making a claim and avoid becoming a victim of insurance bad faith.