Bad Faith Expert Witnesses
Bad faith disputes in commercial insurance litigation typically arise when a policyholder alleges that an insurer failed to investigate, evaluate, or pay a claim in accordance with the standards the insurance industry and applicable law require. These disputes surface in first-party property and casualty bad faith claims over whether an insurer's investigation and denial decision followed reasonable claims handling practices, in third-party bad faith litigation over whether an insurer failed to settle a claim within policy limits when it reasonably could have, and in disputes over whether an insurer's delay in paying a covered claim was unreasonable given the information available at the time. Because claims handling involves professional judgment about investigation adequacy, valuation, and the interpretation of policy language, reasonable claims professionals can disagree about whether a specific insurer's conduct was reasonable. The central issue is typically whether the insurer's claims handling, investigation, and payment decisions met the standard of care the insurance industry and applicable law require.
A bad faith expert helps attorneys evaluate that question by applying accepted claims handling standards and industry practice to the insurer's conduct at issue. That might mean assessing whether an insurer's investigation followed reasonable claims handling practices before a denial, evaluating whether a settlement decision within policy limits reflected reasonable claims judgment given the information available, or analyzing whether a payment delay was justified by legitimate investigation needs or reflected unreasonable claims handling. These findings support positions on bad faith liability and damages, giving attorneys an industry-grounded basis for litigation strategy.
Bad faith cases benefit from experts whose specific background, whether property and casualty claims handling, third-party liability claims, or a particular line of coverage, matches the precise claim type at issue rather than bad faith litigation in general terms. Round Table Group's bad faith network includes claims professionals, underwriters, and insurance attorneys with experience across health, auto, disability, life, and property insurance, several of whom have published on claims handling, underwriting, and liability standards. With more than 75,000 expert searches completed for litigators, we help attorneys match a case's specific bad faith issue to an expert whose credentials will withstand scrutiny. Let us help you find the right bad faith expert for your case by calling us at (202) 908-4500.
