Are You Seeing Signs of Bad Faith From Your Adjuster?

Last Updated: November 9, 2026

Table of Contents

• Warning Signs an Insurance Adjuster Is Acting in Bad Faith
  • Delays, Denials, and Lowball Offers
  • Failures to Investigate, Communicate, and Explain
• How to Prove Bad Faith Insurance Against an Adjuster
• What Not to Tell a Claims Adjuster
• How Much Is a Bad Faith Claim Worth?
• When to Hire a Bad Faith Insurance Attorney
• Before You Sign a Release or Accept a Settlement
• Schedule a Free Case Review With Merritt & Merritt
• Frequently Asked Questions

Warning Signs an Insurance Adjuster Is Acting in Bad Faith

Bad faith is not simply a claim that feels slow or frustrating. It is an insurer’s unreasonable failure to handle a policyholder’s claim fairly, and spotting the signs an insurance adjuster is acting in bad faith early gives you time to document the conduct before it costs you use. Adjusters who go quiet, offers that ignore medical records, and repeated requests for the same paperwork are patterns many injury victims report. Below, we walk through the specific behaviors that matter and, just as important, how to tell them apart from ordinary claim friction.

Delays, Denials, and Lowball Offers

An unreasonable delay is the most common warning sign. Some investigation time is normal, especially in a disputed liability case, but an adjuster who misses deadlines, stops returning calls, or keeps “reviewing” a file with no stated timeline is signaling a problem. Dykema’s Insurance Bad Faith Report tracks these claims-handling trends nationwide, and delay remains a recurring theme.

A denial with no written explanation is another red flag. Every claim decision should come with a clear reason tied to your policy language. A lowball offer built on an incomplete damage assessment, one that ignores lost wages or future treatment, is a third. Not every low offer is bad faith, but an offer made before the adjuster has reviewed your supporting evidence usually is.

Failures to Investigate, Communicate, and Explain

A thorough claim investigation means the adjuster contacts witnesses, reviews the police report, and requests your records. When an adjuster ignores evidence that supports you, that failure to investigate can cross into bad faith. So can a pattern of silence: no claim status updates, no response to emails, no written explanation of how the claim decision was reached.

Watch out: adjusters sometimes send repetitive requests for “additional information” you already provided. That can be a tactic to run out the clock. Keep a dated log of every request and every response.

For real-world examples that mirror these patterns, our breakdown of bad faith insurance claim examples shows what documented misconduct looks like, and our guide to insurance company tactics after a car accident covers the delay and lowball plays adjusters use most.

These are the warning signs the article says to watch for, and what each one looks like in practice.

How to Prove Bad Faith Insurance Against an Adjuster

Proving bad faith insurance starts with the claim file. You need to show what the insurer knew, when it knew it, and how it responded. Request a complete copy of your claim records, including internal notes and correspondence, and keep every letter, email, and voicemail.

Build your documentation around three questions:

• Did the insurer owe a duty under your policy?
• Did the adjuster handle the claim unreasonably?
• Did that conduct cause you a concrete loss?

A legitimate dispute over coverage is not automatically bad faith. The legal standard asks whether the insurer’s conduct was unreasonable, and courts weigh the complexity of the investigation. Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig’s analysis of expert testimony in bad faith litigation notes that recent federal cases increasingly scrutinize whether claims-handling experts can testify under Daubert standards, which makes clean documentation even more valuable.

What most guides skip is the workflow. Build a claim-file timeline before you need it, and organize it the way an attorney or regulator will read it:

• Correspondence log. One row per contact: date, method (letter, email, phone, portal), who initiated, what was said or sent, and what the adjuster promised. Save the actual emails and letters as PDFs, not screenshots.
• Submission receipts. Keep proof of every document you send, including fax confirmations, portal upload confirmations, and certified-mail receipts. If the adjuster claims never to have received your records, the receipt ends the argument.
• Call notes. After every call, write the date, time, participants, and a short summary while it is fresh. Note any statement the adjuster made about timing, coverage, or what was still needed.
• Damage and injury evidence. Estimates, repair invoices, medical records, billing statements, wage-loss documentation, and photographs. Keep originals and a working copy.
• The adjuster’s own writings. Reservation-of-rights letters, denial letters, and requests for information are evidence of what the insurer focused on and when.

Then map the timeline against the insurer’s own conduct. Did the adjuster request records, receive them, and then request the same records again weeks later? Did the offer stay flat after you submitted treatment records that should have moved it? Did the denial letter cite a policy provision that the file shows was never actually applied? Those comparisons turn a pile of documents into a narrative.

Watch out: do not rely on a phone call summary you wrote months later. Memory fades and adjusters change files. The contemporaneous note, the email, and the portal receipt are what survive scrutiny.

Understanding why insurers deny claims in the first place helps you target your proof. Our article on why insurance companies deny injury claims explains the common motives you may need to rebut.

What Not to Tell a Claims Adjuster

What not to tell a claims adjuster comes down to one rule: do not volunteer information the insurer can use to reduce or deny your claim. You must be honest, but you are not required to speculate, guess at fault, or minimize your injuries.

The woman is American.

Avoid these statements:

• “I wasn’t hurt that badly” or “I feel fine” before you have seen a doctor
• Guesses about speed, distance, or who caused the crash
• Apologies or admissions like “I should have seen them”
• Speculation about your own medical future or pre-existing conditions

A recorded statement is voluntary in most cases, and you can politely decline until you have spoken with an attorney. If you already gave one, that does not end your case, but tell your lawyer exactly what you said.

How Much Is a Bad Faith Claim Worth?

A bad faith claim’s value depends on the underlying injury claim plus the additional damages the insurer’s conduct unlocks. There is no standard figure, and anyone quoting you one before reviewing your file is guessing.

Value generally reflects the compensation you were owed under the policy, plus damages tied to the bad faith itself. Some jurisdictions allow extra damages when an insurer acts unreasonably, but the rules vary by state and by whether the claim is first-party or third-party. We do not quote ranges without reviewing the policy, the medical records, and the claim file.

What generally affects the value of a claim includes the severity of the injury, documented lost wages, the strength of liability evidence, and how the adjuster’s conduct compares with reasonable claim handling. A consultation is the way to get a case-specific assessment.

When to Hire a Bad Faith Insurance Attorney

Hire a bad faith insurance attorney when the insurer’s conduct has moved past slow service into a pattern that is costing you money. Signs it is time to call:

• The adjuster has missed stated deadlines more than once
• You received a denial with no clear explanation
• The settlement offer ignores documented treatment or lost income
• The insurer has gone silent for weeks
• You are being pressured to settle before you finish treatment

An attorney can request the claim file, preserve evidence, and escalate a complaint to the state insurance department where appropriate. The deadlines and legal standards differ by state, so the earlier you get a review, the more options stay open. Merritt & Merritt Law Firm offers a free case evaluation, and we can meet you at home, in the office, or at the hospital.

Before You Sign a Release or Accept a Settlement

Do not sign a settlement release until you understand what you are giving up. A release is a binding contract: once you sign, you typically waive all future claims tied to the incident, including claims for injuries that have not fully developed yet.

Before signing, confirm three things:

• You have finished treatment or a doctor has projected your future care
• The offer covers medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering
• You understand whether the release covers only the at-fault party or also your own insurer

Our guide to the car accident liability release form walks through exactly what these documents say and the mistakes to avoid. If an adjuster is rushing you toward a signature, that pressure to settle is itself a warning sign.

Schedule a Free Case Review With Merritt & Merritt

Insurance disputes are stressful, and the adjuster holds most of the information. Our team has over 45 years of trial experience, and we work on a contingency fee, so you pay only if we win. We are available 24 hours a day and can meet you wherever you are, including at home or in the hospital. You can meet our attorneys before you decide.

If an adjuster’s conduct has you second-guessing whether your claim is being handled fairly, get a clear read on your options before you sign anything. Merritt & Merritt Law Firm offers a free case evaluation, investigation of your claim, and a straightforward explanation of what your case is realistically worth. Get started with Merritt & Merritt Law Firm and protect your claim before the next deadline passes.

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