An insurer in Boston is denying, delaying, or lowballing a legitimate claim. Massachusetts gives policyholders one of the toughest bad-faith statutes in the country — Chapter 93A paired with Chapter 176D — which lets you sue your insurer for double or triple damages plus attorneys' fees when the company stonewalls. The Boston firms below file those cases routinely.
Massachusetts insurance disputes come in a few common shapes. After an auto crash the at-fault driver's bodily injury liability carrier lowballs the settlement, or your own underinsured-motorist (UIM) carrier refuses to pay the gap. After a Boston-area condo or home fire, your homeowner's insurer delays for months citing "investigation" or denies based on a coverage exclusion that your broker never warned you about. After a medical emergency, your health insurer denies a procedure as "experimental" or "not medically necessary." After a small-business loss — water damage at a restaurant in the North End, theft at a Back Bay storefront — your commercial property carrier disputes the loss valuation. Or after an accident you receive a "final offer" that doesn't come close to covering your medical bills.
Massachusetts is unusual in giving you real leverage. Chapter 93A (the Consumer Protection Act) combined with Chapter 176D (the Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act) lets a policyholder sue their own insurer for unfair claim handling. If a Suffolk County jury finds the insurer's conduct was willful or knowing, damages double or triple — and the insurer pays your attorneys' fees on top. That math turns a $30,000 PIP dispute into a $90,000-plus exposure and turns a $250,000 disputed homeowner's claim into a serious settlement conversation. The 93A demand letter is itself a settlement tool: insurers in Massachusetts often pay more after receiving a well-drafted 93A demand than they would pay in any other state.
The procedure is specific. A 93A demand letter must be sent at least 30 days before filing suit. It must identify the unfair act, the injury, and the demand for relief in detail. If the insurer makes a "reasonable offer" within 30 days, multiple damages are capped. If the offer is unreasonable or no response comes, the case proceeds and the policyholder retains the multiple-damages claim. Boston coverage lawyers draft these letters tightly so the insurer cannot dodge by paying a token amount. ERISA-governed employer health plans are mostly preempted from 93A — there you have federal ERISA appeal and benefit-recovery rights instead. The lawyer's first job is figuring out which framework applies.
Boston plaintiff-side firm at 268 Summer Street. Handles auto bodily-injury, UM/UIM, PIP, and homeowner's first-party claims, with a strong Chapter 93A/176D bad-faith practice. Frequently sends 93A demand letters that move stuck claims; comfortable in Suffolk Superior Court and the Business Litigation Session.
Boston's premier medical-malpractice and serious-injury firm, founded 1974. Handles the insurance side of catastrophic injury, including UIM, excess and umbrella coverage disputes, and bad-faith claim-handling cases stemming from hospital and physician malpractice insurers. Andrew Meyer and Robert Higgins lead the practice.
80+ years of combined Boston personal-injury experience. Strong on auto liability and UM/UIM disputes, premises-liability insurer denials, and homeowner's first-party claims involving construction or fire losses. Routinely pursues 93A multipliers when insurers delay payment of clear-liability claims.
AV Preeminent rated Boston firm since 1989. Personal-injury insurance disputes are a core practice — auto liability, UM/UIM, and PIP cases — with frequent overlap into OUI defense and criminal-adjacent insurance issues (e.g., insurer denials based on alleged intoxication or exclusion provisions).
First-party injury, UM/UIM, and PIP cases are almost always contingency: 33⅓% pre-suit, 40% after suit is filed, plus case expenses (filing fees, expert reports, deposition costs). No fee is paid if there is no recovery.
Chapter 93A bad-faith cases are typically handled on contingency too, sometimes as a hybrid: a reduced contingency percentage plus reimbursement of attorneys' fees from the insurer if 93A is proved. For complex commercial coverage litigation — multi-policy property losses, D&O coverage fights — Boston firms charge $325-$650/hour; the AmLaw 100 firms handling Fortune 500 coverage disputes charge $700-$1,400/hour.
Demand letters under Chapter 93A are sometimes prepared on a $2,500-$7,500 flat fee when the case is straightforward and the policyholder wants to start with a letter before deciding whether to litigate.
A 93A demand letter is usually drafted and sent in 2-4 weeks from first call. The statute requires a 30-day response window, so the soonest a 93A-based suit can be filed is roughly 6-8 weeks after engagement.
Pre-suit settlement of a clear-liability UM/UIM or PIP claim, after demand and document exchange, generally resolves in 3-8 months. Disputed property losses (fire, water, theft) often settle in 4-12 months once an independent adjuster or appraisal process is invoked.
If suit is filed in Suffolk Superior Court, a typical insurance case reaches a tracking-order trial date in 14-22 months. The Business Litigation Session (for commercial 93A coverage cases) operates on a faster schedule with active judicial management.
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