Long story short, a contractor I hired to do some work on an investment property fell down while working and decided to sue me the owner. I sent this off to my insurance company thinking they'd just pick it up and handle it but instead they took 2 months trying to determine if they'd cover the claim/counter the legal proceedings. In that 2 months, the courts required several legal responses so I had to hire another attorney to handle this part. They did and charged me quite a bit. Finally, the insurance company came back and determined we were eligible for coverage but now they are telling me they will not reimburse me for the fees I paid the attorney while waiting for them to determine coverage.

2 Questions:

1: Does this sound like standard procedure ? Does it sound right or is the insurance company trying to take me for a ride?

2: If they are taking me for a ride, anyone got any good recs on an attorney I can hire to take them on who will not charge anything up front but only charge if we win the claim to get those legal fees back?

If there's coverage, they generally owe you your reasonable fees from the date you tendered the claim to substitution of counsel. I don't have any attorney recommendation. But before going that route, I'd try being the squeaky wheel. You have some additional leverage if the car has not yet settled.

Did they issue you a reservation of rights letter? What justification have they provided for not reimbursing the costs incurred thus far?

My gut says this may be bad faith, if they've finished their coverage investigation and have affirmed coverage, but I need more information.