Insurance Agent Negligence Claim

When purchasing an insurance policy, you are not only putting your trust into the insurance provider you have chosen, but also the insurance agent that the insurance provider may have chosen. Insurance agent negligence can occur at the point of purchase of your insurance policy or further on in your relationship with your insurance company/agent.

At the point of purchase, some agent negligence claims can hinge on: offering deficient or inadequate advice on which type of insurance policy to purchase, the recommendation of insufficient coverage, or the neglect of an insurance agent to sufficiently and explicitly detail the options/terms of your insurance policy. 

Common insurance agent negligence claims after the point of purchase include: failure to secure the coverage requested, failure to procure any insurance coverage, inadequate documentation provided by the insurance agent to the insurance company, and any oversights, from omissions to errors, on the insurance agent’s account.

Whether the mistakes that are made by the insurance agent are intentional or unintentional, the agent can be held liable — not only for their actions, but for the consequences of these actions. As a policyholder, you might be eligible for not only the coverage amount intended, but also the difference between the coverage intended and the actual coverage administered.

If you go to your agent and show them your property, where it is located, and the amount of coverage you want and that is what you recover, you don’t have a claim for agent negligence. If you go to the agent and explain that you need their recommendations for what types of coverage you need, the agent may take on a different role.

Some agents hold themselves as having expertise in providing information to insureds so they can choose the right kind of policy. Others simply write what you ask them to. Anytime you ask for an agent’s recommendation, put that in writing.