Austin Bad Faith Insurance Lawyer

When an Insurance Company Acts in Bad Faith

When you file a claim after an injury, you expect the insurance company to do its part—to investigate, pay valid claims, and handle the process fairly. But what happens when they don’t?

In some cases, the company isn’t acting in good faith. Instead of helping you recover, they delay payments, misrepresent coverage, or flat-out deny your claim. Delays and denials like this can fall under what Texas law defines as bad faith insurance practices.

That kind of behavior can leave you in a tough spot—especially if you’re dealing with medical bills, lost wages, or long-term recovery costs. When this happens, you’re facing more than just an insurance issue—you’re dealing with a situation that could be illegal.

What Texas Law Says About Unfair Insurance Tactics

What Insurers Are Prohibited from Doing

Texas law requires insurance companies to handle claims honestly and fairly. If they don’t, the consequences can go beyond a delayed payout.

Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code outlines specific rules insurers have to follow. It prohibits deceptive practices, misrepresentation of policy terms, and failure to act in good faith during the claims process.

How the Law Protects Injury Victims in Texas

Injury claims carry more weight than property claims. Medical care can’t always wait. Missed work affects your income. When an insurer doesn’t respond quickly or fairly, it creates a ripple effect that directly affects your recovery.

Chapter 541 applies here. If the insurer drags its feet, denies your claim without reason, or tries to shift the blame when the facts don’t support it, you may be dealing with bad faith. The law gives injured people in Texas a way to push back—but only if the problem is caught and challenged early.

Examples of Bad Faith Conduct in Injury Claims

Some insurers don’t give you a straight answer. They stall. They push paperwork back and forth. They say things that don’t line up with what your policy actually covers. When that starts happening, you’re not just dealing with a difficult claim—you might be dealing with bad faith.

Denial when liability is clear

One way this shows up is through outright denial. You have the police report. The medical records are clear. Liability isn’t in question. But the insurance company says no anyway.

Offers that don’t match the facts

In other cases, the offer doesn’t match the facts. You’re facing long-term treatment, and the adjuster sends a number that wouldn’t cover a single hospital bill. They’re not evaluating the evidence. They’re just hoping you’ll take the offer and move on.

Shifting blame or misrepresenting coverage

Then there are the times they say you’re partly at fault when you’re not. Or they claim you don’t have coverage for something that clearly should be included. Sometimes, they don’t even look at the documents you’ve already provided.

If any of that sounds familiar, you could be dealing with bad faith practices—not just a slow or difficult claim.

How Bad Faith Shows Up in Different Injury Case Types

Car Accidents

In car accident cases, even if fault isn’t disputed, insurers may challenge how much the care should cost or whether certain treatment was necessary.

They may approve the initial treatment, then drag their feet on follow-ups. They may question every new bill. Some adjusters go quiet for weeks, only to come back with an offer that covers half of what you owe.

Even when you’ve done everything right, they find ways to stall. And every delay adds pressure—especially when your health and finances are already stretched.

Truck Accidents

When an accident involves a commercial truck, the claim usually doesn’t stay simple. More than one company might be connected to the vehicle—the driver’s employer, the company that owns the truck, or a third party responsible for maintenance.

Each one may have its own insurance carrier. That creates confusion fast. One says the other should pay. The other says they’re still reviewing. And nothing moves forward.

Meanwhile, you’re left waiting. Medical bills aren’t on hold. Neither is your recovery. The insurance companies count on that delay to wear you down.

Motorcycle Accidents

Some insurers don’t give motorcycle riders a fair shot. Even when liability is clear, the tone of the claim changes as soon as they hear what kind of vehicle was involved.

They may say the rider was hard to see. They may claim the injuries are worse because of the rider’s choice not to wear more protective gear. In some cases, they suggest the crash would’ve been less serious if the rider had taken different action—whether or not that’s true.

Those arguments shift attention away from the driver who caused the motorcycle crash. And they’re typically used to justify a lower payout.

Bicycle Accidents

Bicyclists are especially vulnerable when the facts aren’t fully documented. After a bicycle accident the insurer may try to place part of the blame on the rider, even when the driver clearly caused the crash.

If there’s no video or independent witness, the story gets harder to prove. Insurers take advantage of that. They offer a quick settlement before the full cost of care is known. That kind of pressure is strategic—it’s not about resolution. It’s about risk control.

Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrian accident victims can face questions that wouldn’t be asked in other claims. Where were you standing? Were you in a crosswalk? Was the light green? The focus shifts quickly to your choices, not the driver’s.

When there’s no footage or third-party statement, insurers may use that gap to fill in their version of what happened. It gives them room to create doubt—and a reason to delay or deny the claim.

Premises Liability and Dog Bites

In claims tied to premises liability or dog bite cases, the insurer may say the event didn’t cause the injury—or that the injury didn’t happen where you said it did.

Even when coverage exists, and the facts are well-documented, they may hold the line. They don’t say no outright. They just don’t say yes. And while you wait, nothing moves forward.

Wrongful Death

Families dealing with a wrongful death don’t always get a clear answer. The insurer might dispute whether the crash caused the death. They may hold back payment on a technicality or claim the policy doesn’t apply.

They know the family is under stress. They know the bills don’t stop. That’s when the offers come in—low, fast, and structured to sound like closure. But it’s not closure. It’s pressure.

Our bad faith insurance lawyers see how these tactics play out across injury claims every day. Whether it’s a lowball offer in a car accident case, blame-shifting in a truck crash, or silence after a wrongful death claim, we track the patterns and respond before they escalate. Each case has its own pressure points. We step in to make sure the insurer doesn’t use that to their advantage.

How to Respond if an Insurer Isn’t Acting Fairly

Delays happen. But if the responses feel incomplete—or the answers keep changing—it might not be a mistake. When the insurer fails to provide a reasonable explanation for the delay or denial, it could be a sign of bad faith.

Start tracking everything. Emails, voicemails, letters. If someone tells you something over the phone, jot it down with the date. That kind of record can help support your side if the facts are questioned later.
Pull out your insurance policy. Find the section that applies to your situation and compare it to what you’ve been told. If the language doesn’t match, that’s something worth questioning.
Be careful with quick offers. If the check doesn’t cover what you’ve already paid—or what your doctor says is still ahead—don’t rush to sign. It’s okay to pause.
File a complaint if needed. If the insurance claim still isn’t moving, and the company isn’t giving a clear reason, you can file a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance. It’s not a fix, but it puts your concern on record and might get their attention.
Talk to an attorney if the delays keep stacking up. A lawyer can step in before the record gets harder to fix—and help you figure out whether the insurer has already crossed a line.

What You Might Recover in Bad Faith Insurance Claims

When an insurer mishandles your claim, the money at stake isn’t always limited to the original amount. Under Texas Insurance Code Chapter 541, injured people have the right to take action when an insurance company doesn’t handle a claim fairly or in “good faith.”

Compensation tied to emotional stress

If the delay or denial made your situation worse—adding pressure during recovery or causing unnecessary anxiety—you may be able to include those damages in your case.

Attorney’s fees, when awarded by the court

In some situations, the insurer can be ordered to pay part of your legal fees. It doesn’t increase the total recovery, but it may reduce how much comes out of your share under a contingency agreement.

Additional damages based on how the insurer handled the claim

If the company’s conduct was especially unreasonable, the court may allow extra damages beyond the original value of the claim. That decision depends on what the evidence shows.

If the facts support it, a bad faith insurance lawsuit can lead to damages beyond the original claim—especially when the insurer’s conduct has caused additional harm.

How Loewy Law Firm Holds Insurance Companies Accountable

Personal Injury Litigation Is the Focus: We don’t just manage claims—we build cases. From day one, we approach personal injury matters with the expectation that the insurer won’t play fair. That changes how we prepare and how we push the case forward.
Early Pressure Gets Their Attention: Insurers react to what’s in the file. When timelines are tracked, evidence is complete, and nothing is missing, they lose the ability to stall or sidestep the facts. A well-built case shifts the conversation early.
Bad Faith Tactics Don’t Go Unnoticed: We pay attention to the patterns. If the insurer delays without cause, lowballs based on incomplete information, or ignores what’s in the record, we document every step. That record becomes part of the claim.
Clients Are Kept in the Loop: Silence from your own attorney should never be part of the experience. We stay in contact, explain what’s happening, and answer the questions that come up while the case is moving forward.

We’ve handled a wide range of insurance disputes, including cases where valid claims were delayed, underpaid, or denied outright. When the insurer is controlling the timeline and the narrative, we step in early to take that leverage away and get the claim back on track—so medical bills start getting addressed, questions get answered, and the process starts moving again.

Suspect Bad Faith? Here’s What to Do Next

When a claim drags and the answers don’t match the paperwork, the delay may not be random.

Insurance companies use time to their advantage. Every stalled call and unanswered email makes it harder for you to keep pushing forward.

If something feels off, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Our bad faith insurance attorneys can look at the claim, spot the patterns, and explain where the problems may be coming from.

There’s no charge to talk it through—and no pressure to make a decision.

Call (512) 280-0800 or send a message to schedule a free case review with Loewy Law Firm.