Did Your Insurance Company Deny Your Property Damage Claim?

When you took out homeowner’s insurance on your property, you likely expected that if the time should ever come to make a claim, your policy would cover the damages. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Sometimes, an insurer will deny the claim or underpay the value of property damage. This may leave you feeling helpless. However, there are solutions, and you do have options. Here is some more information if you are dealing with a property damage claim with your insurance company.

Denied Claim or Underpayment

In the state of Florida, there is currently a battle going on in the legislature between insurers and trial attorneys who fight the insurance companies for their clients. This is because the Florida legislature has failed to pass insurance reform in recent years. According to information in South Florida’s Sun Sentinel, insurance costs for Florida homeowners will rise in 2018 between 5 and 15 percent. Clearly, insurance companies are looking out for their own best interests. However, they say that when they deny claims or underpay claims, they are reacting to abuses in the system due to clients who artificially inflate their claims or attorneys who file suits against them. This, they say, drives up cost. It is a bit of a vicious cycle that Florida lawmakers hope to address in the coming term.

Where to Turn

Regardless of the battle towards reform in the insurance industry in Florida and the reality of some abuses within the system, the fact remains that, as a homeowner, if you have had a claim denied or underpaid, you can seek recourse. Many insurance customers think that once the insurance company denies their claim, the story ends there, but that is not true. Your insurance policy’s fine print may still give you options, such as a mandatory appraisal provision. That is why it is important not to immediately assume you have no other choice once an insurance company has decided to deny or underpay your claim.

If you have filed a property damage claim that the insurance company denied or underpaid, your next step should be to contact an experienced insurance claims lawyer. This type of attorney can help you examine your options and plan your next steps.