Broker Malpractice Attorneys in Philadelphia
Unless you have a background in insurance, you must have some level of faith when you purchase an insurance policy. You tell your insurance agent or broker what coverage you need, they find a policy for you, and your coverage starts.
But what happens if you file a claim and find out you don’t have the coverage you asked for? You might be a victim of insurance malpractice. This situation is inconvenient at best and disastrous at worst. If it has happened to you, Gay Chacker & Ginsburg can help you pursue an insurance broker negligence claim.
Why Choose Gay Chacker & Ginsburg?
When you’re considering taking legal action against a negligent insurance broker or agent, you need a lawyer with extensive experience in this area of law.
Having the help of a qualified attorney is always a good thing, but specific experience is important when it comes to insurance malpractice cases. These cases are highly complex and often challenging to prove, so an attorney who has handled many cases like yours will be prepared to build a strong case for a more positive outcome.
At Gay Chacker & Ginsburg, we have decades of experience helping people like you hold negligent insurance brokers accountable. However, that isn’t the only reason to consider working with us:
- For more than 50 years, we have been securing positive outcomes for our clients
- Our attorneys are nationally recognized, and some have been named as The Best Lawyers in America 2025
- We have earned a reputation for significant verdicts
- We work on contingency; you pay us only if we recover compensation for you
- We treat our clients like family
- Our diverse backgrounds give us an advantage in many kinds of cases
Because the attorneys at our firm have such diverse skill sets, we can help clients with a wide range of legal issues. For example, one of our attorneys, Dr. Brendan Mulligan, is also a practicing dentist. Because of his unique insights, we have a distinct advantage over many other firms when it comes to cases involving medical and dental care.
If you suspect your insurance agent or broker has committed malpractice — or if you need help with another legal issue — don’t hesitate to contact us!
What Is Insurance Agent & Broker Malpractice?
Insurance broker malpractice (also called insurance broker negligence) is when an insurance broker acts negligently and a customer suffers losses as a result. In most cases, those losses come in the form of insurance payouts the customer should have received but did not. Insurance agent malpractice follows a similar pattern.
These are some common scenarios that might lead to an insurance agent or broker malpractice case:
- You choose a policy, but the agent or broker fails to activate the policy
- You specify certain risks you want to be covered, but the agent or broker purchases a policy that doesn’t include them
- You send money to your agent or broker, but they do not pay the premium on your policy as agreed
- The agent or broker misrepresents the language in your insurance policy
Most people are not especially knowledgeable about insurance. Many policyholders do not realize something is wrong until they file a claim — and find out they don’t have the coverage they thought they did.
Is an Insurance Agent the Same as an Insurance Broker?
Insurance agents and insurance brokers can both commit malpractice. And because many people use the terms “agent” and “broker” interchangeably, it’s easy to assume they mean the same thing. However, there’s a key difference:
- Insurance Agent: A representative of a particular insurance company who sells only that company’s policies
- Insurance Broker: An independent insurance salesperson who sells policies from multiple companies
While both types of salespeople can be liable for professional negligence, insurance brokers are more commonly named as defendants in insurance malpractice cases.
Insurance Agent & Broker Malpractice vs. Bad Faith Insurance Claims
Like agent or broker malpractice, bad faith insurance claims are also insurance-related legal issues, but they are not the same.
Malpractice on the part of a broker or agent is related to the conduct of the person who sold you the insurance policy. On the other hand, bad faith insurance cases concern the actions of an insurance company.
A typical example of a bad faith insurance case is when an insurance company refuses to pay for a covered loss.
An Example Case of Insurance Broker Malpractice
Gay Chacker & Ginsburg was recently able to secure a $10.4 million verdict for the estate of Neil Lipschutz, a man who was killed by a reckless driver while jogging. This was a wrongful death case that also included a claim against an insurance broker.
Before his death, Lipschutz went to great lengths to ensure his family would be financially supported if he were to unexpectedly pass away. To make sure he was as prepared as possible, he requested underinsurance coverage that would pay out if he was seriously injured or killed while driving or on foot.
Lipschutz’s insurance broker sold him a policy with a $1 million underinsurance limit. However, while Lipschutz believed this policy would cover him if he were not driving the covered vehicle, this was untrue.
An endorsement that provided the coverage Lipschutz wanted was available. However, Lipschutz’s broker failed to make him aware of that endorsement.
The broker’s failures came to light after Lipschutz’s death. His family filed a claim with the insurer, but because Lipschutz wasn’t driving at the time of his death, the claim was denied.
This was a classic case of broker malpractice:
- The deceased had specified a type of coverage he wanted
- The broker instead purchased a policy that did not include the requested coverage
- The broker led the deceased to believe his policy included the coverage he had requested
Because it involved both wrongful death and insurance malpractice, this case was more complex than most. It was decided by jury trial, and the negligent insurance broker was found liable for $450,000 of the $10.4 million verdict.
Other Examples of Insurance Agent and Insurance Broker Negligence
The above case study is an example of how insurance agent or broker malpractice can appear over the course of investigating another claim. However, not all insurance broker negligence claims are this complex. Here are a few common scenarios.
The Broker Fails to Purchase a Policy
Imagine that you visit your insurance broker to choose a homeowner’s insurance policy. After a lengthy discussion, you decide on a policy that seems perfect for your needs.
A year later, your home suffers serious damage in a hurricane. You try to file a claim and discover that you have no coverage at all. The broker said that they had purchased the policy for you, but they never did.
Without insurance coverage, you must fund all repairs to your home yourself. By filing an insurance broker malpractice lawsuit, you may be able to recover the money you need to repair your home.
The Broker or Agent Misrepresents Policy Language
Misrepresentations of policy language are often careless mistakes, although intentional misrepresentations are certainly possible. For instance, suppose that your insurance agent tells you about an extremely affordable car insurance policy that has no deductible for any repairs or damage. Pleased with the low cost, you opt for this policy.
A few months later, your car is badly damaged in a hailstorm. You file a claim with your insurer and find out that your deductible is $5,000 — not $0. In this instance, you may have legal recourse because the agent told you the policy had a much lower deductible than it actually did.
The Broker Collects Money From You Without Paying Premiums
You might forward money to your broker each month to pay your insurance premium. This arrangement can work well, provided the broker actually pays the premium.
However, if your policy lapses because your broker is taking your money and not paying your premiums as agreed, you might have a case for insurance broker malpractice.
How Do You Prove Professional Negligence?
Generally, proving insurance agent or insurance broker malpractice comes down to proving negligence. For your lawsuit to be successful, your legal team must demonstrate the four elements of negligence:
- The broker had a duty of care to you
- The broker breached that duty
- The broker’s breach of duty caused you harm
- As a result of the broker’s conduct, you have damages to collect
Here’s a closer look at what each element means in the context of insurance agent and broker malpractice.
The Broker Had a Duty of Care to You
This element can be a challenge to prove in an insurance agent or broker malpractice lawsuit. That’s because defining what duty an insurance broker owes to a customer is not always clear. For example, while many people think that a broker should advise a customer when a policy won’t meet their needs, the courts may not agree.
Still, some duties of care are obvious. For example, if you choose a policy and pay your broker for it, the broker clearly has a duty to actually purchase the insurance coverage for you.
The Broker Breached That Duty
Once your legal team has proven that your insurance agent or insurance broker had a duty of care to you, proving that they breached that duty is relatively straightforward. In the example above, your team would simply need to show that your broker did not purchase the policy they sold you.
The Broker’s Breach of Duty Caused You Harm
If you never file a claim over the life of your policy, you might not discover your insurance broker’s misconduct. However, if you do file a claim, the harm caused by their breach of duty may become obvious.
For example, suppose that your broker sold you a homeowner’s insurance policy. Sadly, your house is destroyed in a fire, so you contact the insurer to file a claim. However, the company cannot find your policy — the broker never finalized your coverage. You have lost your home and cannot afford to rebuild on your own.
In this case, it’s clear that the broker’s breach of duty was the direct cause of harm. You took steps to protect your home by purchasing insurance. The only reason you cannot rebuild your house is your broker’s failure to follow through.
As a Result of the Broker’s Conduct, You Have Damages to Collect
This element is usually fairly straightforward. In the above example, you’ve suffered a provable loss: the insurance payout you were supposed to receive according to the policy you selected. You can seek this amount in damages.
Your legal team may also attempt to collect additional damages. For example, if you had to pay to stay in a hotel after your home was destroyed, the broker may be ordered to reimburse you.
What Kinds of Damages Can You Collect in an Insurance Broker Negligence Claim?
When it comes to recovering damages in an insurance agent or insurance broker malpractice lawsuit, you aren’t limited to the value of a particular insurance claim.
First, you can seek economic damages to compensate you for monetary losses. If you try to file an insurance claim and find out that the broker never purchased your policy, these damages might include the insurance benefit guaranteed by the policy and the premiums you paid to the broker.
Your lawyer might also seek compensation for losses you can’t easily quantify, including emotional distress. If the broker’s error led to profound stress and anxiety, you might include these non-economic losses in your claim.
Do All Insurance Agent or Broker Malpractice Cases Go to Court?
Most cases are settled out of court. This allows you to avoid the uncertainty and expense of a trial. In a settlement, both sides agree on a certain amount of money the agent or broker will pay you. Once that amount is paid, you drop the lawsuit.
However, in rare cases, both sides cannot come to an agreement. When this happens, the case goes to trial. A civil trial works somewhat like a criminal trial: Both sides present evidence before a judge (and sometimes before a jury as well), and the judge issues a ruling.
How Our Firm Can Help You
If you’ve become a victim of insurance agent or broker malpractice, you might be left without the safety net you thought you could count on. You’re already under financial stress, so you might be worried about the legal expenses involved in filing a claim against the agent or broker.
Fortunately, at Gay Chacker & Ginsburg, we assume all financial risks so that our clients don’t have to. Your initial consultation is free. If we agree to take your case and you decide you want to work with us, you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
When an insurance broker or agent has committed malpractice, Gay Chacker & Ginsburg is here. We’re ready to put our legal knowledge and experience to work so you can receive the compensation you deserve.
Need an Insurance Broker Negligence Lawyer?
You pay good money to your insurance broker, and in turn, you trust them to maintain the coverage you need. When your broker acts negligently enough to harm your finances, it’s easy to feel confused and even betrayed.
However, with the right insurance agent and broker malpractice attorneys by your side, you stand a stronger chance of recovering the compensation you need. Call Gay Chacker & Ginsburg or get in touch online to book your free consultation today.
