When the vast majority of people hear the term “insurance policy,” they groan internally. Whether this is due to insurance policy prices, the fact that they are often required, or how difficult it can be to deal with insurance companies when you need to make a claim, the fact is that insurance is rarely fun.

Further compounding the issue, insurance companies will often engage in bad faith practices, which are when they will knowingly try to get out of paying a valid claim using unethical and illegal means.

Thankfully, when this happens, you do have legal recourse to seek damages. It can be tricky, but there is always a way to continue the fight.

If the insurance you were filing a claim against was provided to you by work, it’s likely that your claim is covered under the ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act), which means that all appeals through your work must be completed before any lawsuit can be filed. Under most other types of insurances, however, you can file a lawsuit right away.

Dealing with insurance companies is never easy, especially once they are backed into a corner, but if you have a talented and experienced insurance bad faith attorney on your side, you might be surprised just how many legal rights you have.