I Have Property Damage Due To A Hurricane…Where Do I Start?

Key Takeaways

• After a hurricane damages your home, the first place to call is your insurance company to briefly report the claim. The next call is to your lawyer.
• You need to report the claim timely and promptly, which is not clearly defined in terms.
• The key person in an insurance claim evaluation is the adjuster. We at Your Injury Law Group have our adjusters to help the claim process be timely and prompt.
• Because insurance companies routinely deny damages caused by storms, the best practice you can do is to annually review your storm coverage with your insurance company’s agent.

Start with your insurance company. You must report the claim to your insurance company as timely and promptly as possible. Like any other claim, I recommend having an experienced attorney by your side to help you through that process. There are a lot of potential problems for the homeowner and the policyholder. Starting with the first phone call, insurance companies will try to minimize how much they have to pay or even avoid having to pay. Thus, the first place to start is to call your insurance company.

How Long Do I Have To Report The Damage To The Insurance Company?

In Florida, most insurance policies have the language that it needs to be timely reported or promptly reported. There’s usually no definition within the policy as to what timely or promptly means. The court is also ambiguous about the meaning of timely and promptly. But they will say things like, he reported it within the first week, which is timely and appropriate. Or they might say the claimant took a year before reporting the accident. So under these circumstances, it would not be considered timely or prompt. It depends on the circumstances themselves. My recommendation is as soon as you get cell service, get on the phone with your insurance company and let them know about the claim. But be brief.

Once it is reported, you can tell them, “I’ll give you more details later.” Then get the attorney involved. An experienced attorney is going to be diligent and work with the insurance company quickly so that your claim is promptly processed and promptly and timely submitted and that your claim is protected.

After Reporting My Loss And Damages, What Can I Do While Waiting For An Adjuster?

The key person is the insurance company’s adjuster, but there are a lot of other types of adjusters. We at Your Injury Law Group will also bring in our adjusters or a public adjuster, that will work for you, the homeowner. What they can do is help you get an appraisal of the claim. They can figure out what needs to be done, what the damage is, and what work needs to be done and report all that to the insurance company to help expedite or minimize the amount of time that it takes for your claim to be handled.

We work very closely with several different adjusters, even the ones that we don’t necessarily work with we work well with. We’ll work with the individual homeowner and figure out what needs to be done and what is in their best interest for their particular claim.

What Are Common Reasons Insurance Policies Are Denied After Hurricane Damage?

For several different reasons, property damage claims as a result of a hurricane, a tropical storm, or even just very heavy rain and wind are often denied. One reason is the type of coverage you have versus the type of claim that the insurance company claims that you had or alleges that you had. An example would be if you don’t have flood insurance, but they can try to prove that the water came in as a flood versus wind-driven rain. Another example is the exact opposite. If you have flood insurance but you don’t have wind-driven insurance or insurance to cover water intrusion from being driven by the wind, that can be another example. Yet another example can be that many of the policies will require that the water intrudes from either outside the building or from the roof.

You have to be able to prove that the water came in because of damage to the roof or damage to the building itself. A structural damage claim is denied because the insurance company thinks the water came in from something other than roof damage or structural damage.

Then, of course, there are claims being denied because of coverage issues. Either a misrepresentation or an alleged misrepresentation in the insurance application back when you purchased it or they find a reason that would justify denying the claim outright by denying coverage.

To prevent this, before hurricane season hits, make sure that you go over your insurance coverages with your agent. Make sure you have the right coverages for what you need. If you’d like Your Injury Law Group’s evaluation, you can give us a call at (866) 824-4222.

The call is free, and the advice may be priceless.

We’re happy to take a look at what coverages you have and try to give you some advice to make sure you’ve got the proper amount and kind. While I’m not an insurance agent and I have nothing to do with selling insurance policies, I have had experience reviewing policies in a particular area. Knowing what we know about that area and the risks that particular area runs, we can help you make sure you’ve got the right coverage.

For more information on Property Damages Due To A Storm in Florida, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (866) 824-4222 today.