Your father planned ahead. He paid his life insurance premiums for 22 years. He never missed a payment. He did everything right.
Then he died.
And the insurance company said no.
They asked for more documents. Then more. Then they went quiet. Weeks turned into months. Your family needed that money to pay his medical bills. To keep the house. To survive.
This happens more than most people realize. Insurance companies deny or delay valid claims every day. They count on families being too exhausted or confused to fight back.
But Texas law gives families real power. You do not have to accept a denial. You do not have to wait forever.
Here is what you can do about it.
What Insurance Bad Faith Actually Means
Not every denied claim is bad faith. Sometimes insurance companies make honest mistakes. Sometimes claims really do fall outside policy coverage.
Bad faith is different. Bad faith means the insurance company acted unreasonably. They knew they should pay. They chose not to.
Texas takes this seriously. Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code spells out exactly what insurers cannot do. When they break these rules, families can fight back.
Here are the most common bad faith tactics:
Unreasonable delays. The company drags out the process for months without a valid reason.
Denying claims without investigating. They say no before they even look at the facts.
Lowball offers. They offer far less than the policy requires, hoping you will give up and accept it.
Misrepresenting the policy. They twist the language to avoid paying what they owe.
Demanding excessive documentation. They keep asking for more paperwork, even when you have already provided everything.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may have a bad faith case.
Why Death Claims Get Complicated
When the policyholder dies, everything changes.
The person who knew the policy details is gone. The person who could answer questions is gone. The person who could sign documents is gone.
Insurance companies know this. Some use it to their advantage.
They claim they need “more information” before they can process the claim. They say they are waiting for “verification.” They send letters to an address no one checks anymore.
But here is the real problem. Who has the legal authority to deal with them?
You may be the spouse. You may be the adult child. You may be the person named as beneficiary.
That does not automatically give you the right to access all the information the insurance company demands. You cannot get medical records. You cannot access bank statements. You cannot sign legal documents on behalf of the deceased.
Only certain people can legally act for someone who has died. This is where insurance law and probate law collide.
Without proper legal standing, families get stuck. The insurance company keeps asking for things you cannot provide. Months pass. Nothing moves forward.
The Probate Problem
Before you can fight the insurance company, you need legal authority to act.
Texas requires someone called a personal representative to handle the affairs of someone who died. This person gets official power to access records, sign documents, and make legal decisions for the estate.
You get this authority through probate court. A judge reviews the situation and appoints the right person. Once appointed, you can finally get the documents the insurance company demands. You can finally respond to their requests. You can finally push back.
The process can move quickly in straightforward cases. It can take longer when things are complicated. Either way, it has to happen before your insurance dispute can move forward.
Families navigating this situation often benefit from working with a Texas probate and estate law firm that understands urgency. The faster probate moves, the faster you can hold the insurance company accountable.
Several probate options may apply to your situation. Independent administration works for most families and gives the representative flexibility. Muniment of title is simpler but only works in certain cases. Small estate affidavits can speed things up when the estate is modest.
The right approach depends on your specific circumstances. What matters most is getting started.
Building Your Bad Faith Case
Start documenting everything today.
Every phone call. Every email. Every letter. Write it all down.
Keep a log with dates and times. Note the name of every person you speak with. Write down what they said. Save every piece of correspondence.
This may feel tedious. It is not. This log becomes your evidence.
Texas law requires insurance companies to provide your claim file if you request it in writing. Do this. The claim file shows what the company knew and when they knew it.
Here is what proves bad faith in court:
A timeline of unreasonable delays. If months pass with no valid explanation, that is evidence.
Inconsistent reasons for denial. If they give you one reason today and a different reason next month, that is evidence.
Failure to investigate. If they denied your claim without looking into the facts, that is evidence.
Ignoring your documentation. If you sent everything they asked for and they still denied you, that is evidence.
Build your file. Keep it organized. You will need it later.
What Texas Law Allows You to Recover
Texas does not go easy on insurance companies that act in bad faith.
If you win, you can recover more than just the policy benefits they should have paid in the first place.
Texas allows statutory penalties. The insurance company may owe you up to 18% annual interest on the amount they wrongfully withheld.
Texas allows you to recover attorney’s fees. The insurance company pays for your lawyer, not you.
Texas allows additional damages under the Insurance Code. These cover the harm their bad faith caused you beyond just the policy amount.
In extreme cases, Texas allows treble damages. That means three times your actual damages. This applies when the conduct was especially egregious.
The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act may also apply. This opens up even more potential recovery.
Insurance companies know all this. They know Texas law has teeth. That is why many of them settle once families get serious about fighting back.
The Timeline You Need to Know
Deadlines matter in these cases. Miss one and you could lose your rights.
Texas has a statute of limitations for bad faith claims. You only have a certain number of years to file. The clock starts ticking from the date of the wrongful conduct.
Probate has its own deadlines. Certain actions must happen within specific timeframes after death. Missing these can complicate your insurance case.
Here is why this matters. Delays in probate can delay your insurance fight. You cannot sue the insurance company until you have legal standing. You do not get legal standing until probate appoints you.
The two processes need to work together. When your probate attorney and your litigation attorney coordinate, things move faster. When they do not, months can slip away.
Do not assume you have unlimited time. You do not.
When to Get Help
Some situations call for professional help. Here are the signs.
You need a litigation attorney when the insurance company has denied your claim, made a lowball offer they refuse to improve, stopped responding to your communications, or cited policy language you do not understand.
You need probate assistance when no one has legal authority to act for the estate, you cannot access the documents the insurance company demands, or the deceased did not leave a will.
Many families need both at the same time. This is normal. The death of a loved one often triggers multiple legal needs at once.
The cost of waiting is real. Evidence disappears. Memories fade. Deadlines pass. Insurance companies count on delay working in their favor.
Do not let it.
What to Do This Week
You do not have to solve everything today. But you should take three steps this week.
First, start your documentation log. Write down everything that has happened so far with the insurance company. Dates, names, conversations. Get it on paper while you remember.
Second, request your claim file in writing. Send a letter to the insurance company asking for a complete copy of your file. Keep a copy of your request.
Third, find out if probate has started. If no one has been appointed to represent the estate, that needs to happen. Until it does, your hands are tied.
Texas law protects families from insurance company abuse. You have rights. You have options. You have legal tools that can force insurance companies to do what they should have done from the start.
Insurance companies count on families giving up. They count on confusion. They count on grief making people too tired to fight.
Do not give them what they want.
Your loved one paid those premiums for a reason. They wanted to protect you. Now it is time to protect what they left behind.