St. Louis
You rely on their expertise because you trust them. They tell you what you are buying does one thing and after you have paid for the services (and they received their commission), you find out it does another. They tell you they have expertise or parts necessary to complete the work, and after you pay them you end up with amateur work, at best, that will cost more money to repair properly than it would have cost to do it right the first time.
This happens in different industries every day. You are not the only one to fall victim. Often the representatives and agents of large corporations are as confused as you about the products they are selling. Many times, the products are designed with the intention of confusing you. You have the right to expect the truth from an agent/representative and transparency from the company. Whether a contractor, home builder, broker, car dealer, or mechanic you have a right to expect truth in advertising and sales and you have a right to recover when fraud or misrepresentations cost you thousands of dollars.
When an error occurs, we will make sure they correct it. When a fraud occurs, we will fight to make sure it never happens in Missouri again.
Annuities & Insurance Products
When you invest in insurance and annuity products you rely on the expertise of the agents and the goodwill of their company to ensure your nest egg will be there for you when it matters and that you are protected against the unforeseen events that led you to purchase the product in the first place.
If the agent misrepresented how the policy would work, you could lose thousands of dollars and have your future plans fall apart. When an insurance company refuses to provide the services you were told you were paying for, they try to leave you holding the bag for their expenses.
Often, companies will tell you that you are responsible because it was clearly explained in a long detailed contract full of legal jargon. This is not necessarily the case where the agent himself told you something different than what was contained in the contract.
If you believe you have been the victim of fraud or misreprentation of the sale of an annuity or insurance product, contact us today.
Financial Services & Retirements
Your retirement is earned over a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice. When you discover the person entrusted with your investments or responsible for your company’s retirement fund has misrepresented or misused your money, your life can be turned upside down.
If you invest with an outside company and relied upon representations of an agent or broker who was wrong, you may have recourse in the civil courts. Your own financial security may be at risk and often times the agents and brokers are unaware of the information they provided you was false. Their employer and their insurer are obligated to make it right.
Sometimes, a whistleblower within the company can save thousands to millions of dollars for everyday employees by simply coming forward with the information and protecting the people who matter most. Misappropriation of funds can be a criminal offense, to a civil lawyer can help the victims recover or mitigate their own losses.
If you yourself have been a victim of fraud in the sale of retirement accounts, or if you are aware of fraud, contact us today.
Consumer Law & The MMPA
“Consumer law” includes cases brought by people are wronged in the process of purchasing a product or service. Missouri is fortunate to have a statute to protect consumers from false advertising and sales claims. Known as the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (the “MMPA”), or statutory fraud, the law provides consumers with a path to recover their lost and stolen money as well as a method to punish companies and individuals who choose to practice outside the law.
Contact us if you believe you have been the victim of fraud or misrepresentation when purchasing a product. One of the most common consumer law victims is the purchaser of a car. Car dealers are known for their aggressive and entertaining sales tricks. When they go too far, they have to be held accountable. Not every claim a salesman makes arises to the level of fraud or misrepresentation under the law, but if you purchased a product and found critical statements were, in fact, untrue, you may have a claim. We have seen cases involving the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act which arise from Contractors and Home Repair, financial services, warranty programs, hospital billing records, and more.
Insurance Bad Faith Law
An insurance company has a duty of good faith and fair dealing to an insured. This duty of good faith and fair dealing applies in a number of different ways and contexts.
Where we commonly deal with insurance bad faith law is where our injured client makes a claim against an insured defendant. Often, unless the insurance company pays to settle that claim, there is a possibility of the insured owing more money than the insurance policy would allow. The insurance company cheaps out and tries to pay as little as possible to save money for itself and, then, leaves its insured owing personal money to our client. Depending on the facts, that could mean there’s a bad faith claim.
Similarly, we sometimes see an insurance company whose insured we have sued claim there is no insurance for that insured. It might be that the insured filled out the policy application incorrectly. We’ve seen situations where the insured put the wrong name on the policy application, but then paid premiums and were provided insurance. Yet, the carrier will claim a “misnomer” that does not allow coverage. This also could amount to bad faith.
Another scenario is where an insured makes a claim against its own insurance company for something like hail damage or water damage. In that scenario, the insured has a duty to be fair to its insured by evaluating the damage and paying what is owed under the policy. Where it fails to do so, there can be a claim for bad faith or “vexatious refusal” to pay.
Insurance companies typically follow a pattern when handling claims – delay, deny, defend. Having worked as defense lawyers, we are well aware of this pattern and of how to punish and deter it from happening.