DELVENTHAL LAW
INEED AN INSURANCE LAW DISPUTE ATTORNEY?
They say the law is a naturally adversarial process, but so is the relationship between insurance companies and those who they insure. This is particularly true once it comes time to pay out on a claim. You’ll notice the insurance company immediately going to work to attempt to devalue your claim, blame you for an accident, or accuse you of making up injuries. These tactics work to the extent that you allow them to. Insurance companies count on those who won’t fight back because even if that only accounts for a small percentage of people, that’s money that they don’t have to pay out.
This is particularly true of traffic accidents in which one party’s insurance may be responsible for paying damages to another. Once a claim is made against the insurance policy, the insurance adjuster goes into overdrive employing specialized software the sole purpose of which is to devalue the claim. Having an attorney on your side who is familiar with the process of negotiating with insurance companies can make a huge difference.
The Delventhal Law Office helps injured parties negotiate claims with insurance companies. We understand that you’re hurting and you’re unsure how you’re going to support yourself while you recover. We also know that if it wasn’t your own negligence that caused the injuries, then the insurance company owes you that money. What you need is an advocate. The Delventhal Law Office has successfully secured major settlements for injured clients. If need be, we’ve taken cases to trial. Give us a call or contact us online and we can help you leverage the insurance company into honoring the full value of your claim.
WHAT KINDS OF INSURANCE CLAIMS CAN WE HELP YOU WITH?
The Delventhal Law Office can help you prove your case on the following claims:
- Workers’ compensation claims;
- Car or traffic accident claims (including bicycle and pedestrian accidents);
- Birth injury claims;
- Nursing home negligence or abuse;
- Slip, trip, and fall accidents;
- Premises liability;
- Social security / disability claims;
- Product defect and liability claims;
- Drug injury claims;
- Dog bite claims;
- Construction accident claims; and
- Environmental injury claims.
Cases like these may require an injured party to file claims against a number of different insurance policies. These include:
- Auto insurance;
- Homeowner’s insurance;
- Renter’s insurance;
- Fire insurance;
- General commercial liability insurance; and
- Malpractice insurance.
BAD FAITH INSURANCE DENIALS IN INDIANA
Insurance companies have a duty act in the best interests of their customers. But sometimes, insurance companies test the boundaries of what they can get away with. If they deny a claim in bad faith, they can be held liable for that too.
If an insurance company breaches their contract with the insured and denies a valid claim against their policy, not only will they be forced to pay out the claim, but they could responsible for other damages that the claimant incurred as a result of their bad-faith denial. They may also be held liable for punitive damages for breaching the contract.
When this occurs, it helps to have someone on your side who can bring down the full legal backing of the law on the insurance company that is denying your claim.
HOW INSURANCE CLAIMS USUALLY WORK
Insurance companies will not simply hand over money because you say you’re injured. Whatever offer they give you is directly related to what you can prove. To the extent that you want to the full value of your claim paid out, you will need to prove that the insurance company’s policyholder was indeed responsible for that injury and that there is medical proof of the injury.
Many insurance companies use an insurance adjuster software known as Colossus. Colossus keeps data on everything and is set up for the purpose of diminishing the value of a claimant’s claim against an insurance policy. The insurance adjuster plugs a number into the software, and the software responds with some number that it thinks your claim is worth. It gives the illusion of objectivity, but in fact, depends entirely on what values the claims adjuster is plugging into the software.
It also doesn’t account for non-economic injuries like loss of enjoyment. For instance, if a tennis player loses the use of her wrist for a year this would be a much more significant injury than someone who goes out dancing on the weekends.
CONTACT AN INSURANCE LAW DISPUTE ATTORNEY IN FORT WAYNE, IN TODAY
Our job as your attorney to see that you get compensated fairly for your injuries. You will only have one chance to litigate your claim. If you sign off on a bad offer, you’ll never get that chance back. Delventhal Law Office can help. Give us a call or contact us online for a free case evaluation.
The Indiana law that applies to your insurance dispute case
Indiana insurance-coverage disputes arise from the contractual obligations of an insurance policy combined with the carrier's common-law duty of good faith and fair dealing. First-party claims — where the policyholder seeks coverage under their own policy — support both a breach-of-contract claim and an Indiana bad-faith claim under Erie Insurance Co. v. Hickman, 622 N.E.2d 515 (Ind. 1993). Indiana's statute of limitations for written contracts is generally ten years under IC 34-11-2-11[1] (six years for some claims), and the Indiana Department of Insurance under in.gov/idoi[2] regulates carrier conduct and handles consumer complaints in parallel with civil litigation.
How insurance carriers fight Fort Wayne insurance dispute claims
Insurance carriers in coverage disputes deploy a sophisticated playbook. First, they invoke policy exclusions — anti-concurrent-causation clauses, intentional-acts exclusions, business-pursuits exclusions, water-damage and earth-movement exclusions — to deny coverage. Second, they argue late notice or non-cooperation under the policy's conditions clause. Third, they argue the loss is not within the policy's grant of coverage in the first place, shifting the burden of proof on the insured. Fourth, they paper the claim file with technical denials to make any bad-faith claim look like an honest dispute. We counter with the claim-file production, the Indiana DOI complaint, the underlying-loss documentation, and the carrier-conduct standards published by the Indiana Department of Insurance[2].
Evidence we preserve in the first 48 hours
Insurance disputes are won by reconstructing the claim file — what the carrier knew, when they knew it, and how they handled the claim.
- Complete policy contract including declarations page, all endorsements, and the policy form in effect on the date of loss, with proof of premium payment.
- The carrier's claim file — adjuster notes, internal communications, reserve history, and any consulting-expert reports obtained on the claim.
- Loss documentation — photographs, contractor estimates, scene reports, and any independent-appraisal records establishing the magnitude of the loss.
- All written communications between the insured, the carrier, the adjuster, and any third-party administrator, sequenced by date.
- Indiana Department of Insurance complaint, any market-conduct examination findings, and any prior bad-faith litigation against the same carrier on the same policy form.
Damages categories in an Indiana insurance dispute case
Indiana insurance-dispute damages cover the underlying policy benefits the carrier should have paid, consequential damages caused by the wrongful denial (lost rental income, additional living expenses, mitigation costs), interest on delayed payments, and reasonable attorney fees in some configurations. Bad-faith claims under Erie Insurance Co. v. Hickman support compensatory and punitive damages when the carrier acted with deliberate indifference, gross negligence, or oppressive conduct. Carrier conduct standards and consumer-complaint data published by the Indiana Department of Insurance[2] ground the bad-faith argument.
What our insurance dispute clients ask most
What is the difference between breach of contract and bad faith in an insurance case?
Breach of contract addresses the carrier's failure to pay benefits the policy requires. Bad faith addresses the carrier's failure to handle the claim with honesty and fair dealing — unreasonable delay, deceptive claim handling, deliberate indifference, or oppressive conduct. Indiana recognized first-party bad faith in Erie Insurance Co. v. Hickman in 1993, opening the door to compensatory damages beyond policy limits and to punitive damages.
How do I file a complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance?
Indiana DOI accepts consumer complaints online, by mail, and by phone. The complaint triggers a regulatory review of the carrier's handling, which often prompts faster resolution or written explanations the carrier would not otherwise provide. The DOI process does not replace civil litigation but can produce admissions and documents that support a parallel breach-of-contract or bad-faith claim.
What is the claim file and why is it important?
The claim file is the carrier's internal record of how it handled the claim — adjuster notes, supervisor reviews, reserve calculations, internal expert reports, and communications. Indiana courts have addressed claim-file discoverability extensively; significant portions are typically produced during bad-faith litigation. The file often reveals the carrier's actual reasoning behind a denial, which differs from the formal denial letter.
What is the statute of limitations for an Indiana insurance dispute?
Indiana's general written-contract statute of limitations is ten years under IC 34-11-2-11[1], with six years for some written contracts and certain specific statutes. Bad-faith tort claims generally follow the two-year personal-injury statute under IC 34-11-2-4[3]. The applicable period depends on the underlying claim type, so timely evaluation is critical to preserve every theory of recovery.
Can I recover attorney fees in an Indiana insurance dispute?
Attorney fees are not automatically recoverable under the American Rule. Indiana statutes and specific policy provisions sometimes shift fees — uninsured-motorist litigation under some configurations, declaratory-judgment actions in coverage disputes, and certain bad-faith awards. Establishing the fee-shifting basis early in the case shapes settlement leverage, since the carrier knows its exposure if the case proceeds to judgment.
What happens after you hire us
From day one, we obtain the complete policy and the carrier's claim file, document the loss with independent appraisers when needed, file a parallel Indiana DOI complaint when appropriate, and send a documented demand identifying every theory of recovery. If the carrier holds its denial, we file in Allen Superior Court or federal court depending on diversity, and pursue both contract and bad-faith claims in tandem. Every step is on a contingency-fee basis: no fee unless we recover.
