Having homeowners insurance is meant to reduce financial strain if your property sustains damage. However, you may become even more irate if a claim settlement offer falls far short of your expectations or if your claim is outright rejected.
Disputes of home insurance claim payouts can arise for various reasons, including disagreements over hidden policy language or the true cost of restoring your house.
What can you do if you’re having problems getting your claim resolved? Discover the measures necessary to contest the ruling and seek a different result.
Our friends at Legal Grit in Boca Raton, Orlando, and Jacksonville in Florida, a homeowners insurance claim lawyer, helped us with this article
Table of Contents
Review your claim and coverage
The first thing you should do before calling your insurance provider is to evaluate your claim and coverage. This step is crucial since you can forget all the critical particulars of your insurance, such as the kinds of damages or events covered by your coverage.
Examine what services and assets are covered by your insurance, look for any exclusions, and go over the claim-filing process.
In most cases, your insurer will write you a letter outlining the specifics of your policy, including why your claim was rejected. Contact your insurance provider if you didn’t get this message or want further information. If you’re in the right, knowing what you’re entitled to under your policy will strengthen your case. If you aren’t, it will prevent you from investing time and effort in pointless appeals.
File an appeal
You will have to make a formal appeal if communicating your position to the claims adjuster for your insurance provider is not yielding any positive results. If your claim is rejected, the clock starts to tick, and you have a limited opportunity to do this. Your homeowner’s insurance policy will detail the appeals procedure you must follow.
A formal appeal request leads the refused claim to be reviewed. Include as much data and proof as possible in your appeal to strengthen the claim that your damages or losses should be compensated. Your chances of obtaining more than a superficial assessment of your refused claim are greater the more structured you are when presenting this information.
Send your appeal form and any supporting documents to the appropriate party.
File a complaint with your state’s insurance department
You can file a complaint with your state insurance department if you have employed a third party and the claim is still being rejected or receiving an inadequate payout.
This choice might be the best if you believe your insurer wrongfully refused your claim and want your state insurance agency to look into the matter to ensure your insurance plan and applicable state insurance regulations were correctly followed. You can learn about other resources you were unaware of when you phone the insurance agency.
Consult a lawyer
Consider engaging an attorney to aid with negotiations, especially for high-value claims. Make sure the one you choose has experience with house insurance claims. You will get the finest legal counsel available in this manner. Many firms provide free consultations to examine your claim and determine whether it is worth pursuing.
Reasons your home insurance claim may be denied
While a homeowners insurance policy is intended to offer financial security if a covered event causes damage, there are several situations when a claim could be rejected, including:
- Absence of coverage: There are several events and causes of damage that are not covered by homeowner’s insurance. There will undoubtedly be covered risks in every insurance, and your claim may be an excluded occurrence.
- Not enough supporting evidence: Your claim may be rejected if you don’t provide enough supporting evidence in the form of documentation, such as pictures, videos, or witness testimonies. The more supporting data there is, the better-informed a judgment the insurance adjuster can make as they must consider as many details as possible.
- Filing deadline missed: Insurance providers impose deadlines for when you can submit a claim. It is crucial to submit a claim immediately after the harm occurs to avoid missing significant dates.
Your insurance company might not always reject your claim outright. Instead, a settlement might be less than anticipated.
If this occurs, a settlement offer for a home insurance claim could be contested using the same procedure of reviewing all pertinent documentation, requesting an additional review, and employing an independent third-party investigation.
Conclusion
Understanding the limits of your policy and the explanations provided by the insurer for the denial of your claim is crucial when you’re contesting a low settlement offer or home insurance claim denial.
Use the free tools provided by your state’s insurance commissioner and consider working with a lawyer or a third-party appraiser to come to a mutually agreeable resolution if you think the organization ought to have approved your claim.
