The process in which an insurance policy is intended to work is supposed to be rather simple. A buyer takes out an insurance policy with the intention that the insurance provider will compensate the insured in the advent of a calamity. For example, a homeowner who purchases natural disaster insurance has a reasonable expectation the insurance agency will pay for damages in the advent of a storm. A buyer of health insurance will assume hospital bills will be covered after a medical emergency. However, things don't always work out this way. Unfortunately, there have been instances where the insurance company refused to pay. This usually sets the stage for legal proceedings and insurance litigation where the buyer sues to recover what was promised. This is not an easy process and there are five things you need to know about insurance litigation before seriously considering it.

First and foremost, the policyholder must not be in breach of the policy to have a valid case. For example, certain car insurance policies only offer coverage for a specified amount of miles per year. If you go over this specified mileage, any accident would not be covered under the policy. As such, it is critical to understand the terms of your policy before seeking litigation.

When it appears likely that your insurance provider has possibly breached the terms of the agreement, you will need to seek proper representation. The remaining four steps detail the criteria to follow in order to select the right attorney.

Examine the experience of the attorney prior to making a hiring decision. If an insurance litigation attorney has extensive experience, the attorney will be capable of handling your case. It is also important to examine the specific cases the attorney handled in the past, the ratio of the number of cases won, and the average award amount recovered for the clients. This will give you more confidence regarding your hiring decision.

Also, be sure your attorney's experience deals with the specific type of insurance litigation you are seeking. Homeowner's insurance is quite different from auto insurance, which is quite different from life insurance. Therefore, you do not want an attorney whose primary experience is with life insurance litigation handling an auto insurance case.

Insurance litigation is often based on precedent decision. In other words, judgments in previous litigations are often the basis for decisions in current cases. When you first meet with the attorney, ask about their ability and intention to research precedent decisions. Under certain circumstances, certain precedent decisions can greatly increase the odds of winning a particular case. As such, it is critical to hire an attorney who is well versed on precedent decisions as they relate to your specific case.

Litigating an insurance case often centers on legalities that might vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to hire an attorney who possesses the adequate resources to research the jurisdictional statutes related to a specific insurance case.

Of course, there are many more criteria that can be examined prior to hiring an insurance litigation attorney. Starting with these five tips, however, you can raise the odds that your litigation experience will be positive.