Being a homeowner is perhaps one of the most important aspirations that an individual has in terms of settling down in life. This is even more true when family planning is added to the mix. As the head of the family, the person would like to live in a place where the entire family feels safe and at peace. Once that goal is reached, things may begin to fall into place. Comfort and security are what makes a home, genuinely a happy home.
Nonetheless, life often doesn’t always go according to plan and unfortunate incidents can occur at the blink of an eye. This reality can manifest itself as accidents in our homes as well. This is especially prevalent in South Florida, where mother nature can hit us with extreme weather conditions that can negatively affect the state of our homes.
Circumstances that entail physical damage to our property will immediately initiate certain legal obligations. These are issues that will allow you to get the financial assistance to cover those damages to your home. From that point forward, the homeowner has to file an official claim towards their home insurance.
Especially now, the homeowner hopes and trusts that their insurance will correspondingly cover the damages, because that is why the individual pays the insurance in the first place. However, this does not always happen and there are high chances for a denied homeowner’s claim to occur.
So, if your claim has been denied, please rest assured that it is not the end of the world. You have made the right first step by landing on this article. The truth is that there are legal solutions to appeal these decisions, so that you can get the financial assistance you’re entitled to. By hiring a real estate attorney, you will be able to benefit from a valuable set of expertise when trying to appeal a denied insurance claim. Join us as we talk about the reasons for your claim to be denied, what to do if so, and how an attorney can assist you.
Reasons For Homeowners Claims to be Denied In Florida
Let’s go ahead and review some possible causes of denied insurance claims:
- A lack of general information: When discussing your case, failure to provide detailed information about the damages to your property can result in a denied claim. Insurance adjusters often dictate that the more information you provide about the damages, the better chances you have of getting covered. The main issue at hand is that the homeowner tends to not report a full inventory of the affected property.
- Failure to file the claim in the mandated time frame: In this circumstance, the homeowner is not aware of the statute of limitations (legal timeframe) to file their claim. People have the false belief that they can take their time when initiating their legal request for financial coverage. If so, time can be wasted and the probability of denial can increase if you do not meet those standards.
- Insurance adjusters’ decision making: There are instances when the inspecting insurance adjuster simply acts in an unfair manner when evaluating the damages. It may not be a surprise to know that Insurance companies have one sole purpose: to make and save money. Unfortunately, this often means bad news for your homeowner’s claim.
- Type of damage: If your home was damaged by wind or water, there are chances that the insurance company might categorize the damage as a sudden event. In that circumstance, flooding and wind damage would not count as coverage. Hence once more, it can be noted as an unfair practice by the insurance company.
What To Do After Having Your Claim Denied in Florida
The most important thing to do is to keep your cool. There are laws in place that protect your rights as a homeowner. For that reason, you will simply need to follow these common steps in accordance to the law:
- Firstly, take a deep breath. Then, carefully review the details of your claim and pinpoint why they decided to deny yours. Have patience when deciphering all of the confusing verbiage these companies opt to use. However, by having a home insurance attorney by your side understanding these issues will be less complicated.
- Be mindful of your own policy. By expertly being aware of the details of your coverage, you will be able to effectively dispute the denial. The truth is that insurance companies believe that the homeowner rarely bothers to know their rights regarding their own coverage. As a result, they’ll try to take advantage by sneaking tricks up their sleeve.
- Gather the necessary evidence of your property. If you believe that your claim denial is unfair, you will have to make the effort to provide factual evidence to dispute it. The best way to approach this, is to carefully analyze the property damage and take detailed notes on what type of damage was received. In other words, it will be important to take pictures of the damages, label them and describe how they occurred.
- File an official appeal. Once you have your evidence, file an appeal to your denied claim.
Hire A Lawyer For Your Denied Claim
Even if you decide not to hire a home insurance lawyer, you can still enjoy the benefits of an initial free consultation. In this meeting, the legal experts can review your denied claim and offer an opinion of what you can do moving forward. Oftentimes, these consultations provide clarity and legal solutions.
If you do decide to hire legal assistance, your home insurance attorney will help you file your appeal. Before doing so, the legal expert may also conduct an investigation of the decision made by the insurance adjusters. By gathering factual evidence that disputes the original decision, your appeal will have more likelihood of succeeding.
One of the biggest advantages of hiring an insurance lawyer is working with someone that has dealt with cases like yours countless times before. These are professionals that have gone up against the insurance companies and their ill intentions in the past. They will make sure that your rights as a homeowner are protected and that you receive the coverage that you’re entitled to.
Lastly, you will benefit from very effective representation throughout your case, especially if your circumstances require litigation.
Get Represented Right Away!
The following information has been brought to you by the most knowledgeable home insurance experts in South Florida. Professionals that possess the necessary expertise to grant you the coverage that you’re entitled to. Remember, there are available solutions at your disposal that can challenge a denied homeowners claim. So, why not start by contacting an attorney right away?
