5 Tips For Homeowners Insurance Claims

FIVE TIPS FOR HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE CLAIMS 

One critical aspect of homeownership is homeowner’s insurance. Most people do not give much thought to the process of making a claim until damage strikes. 

TIP 1: Document Everything Before Disaster Strikes

When a home is seriously damaged or destroyed, homeowners often struggle documenting all of the items that they have lost. One of the reasons for these problems is because there is not a clear record of what was owned or located in the home. A pre-loss video showing the contents and possessions in the home is often very valuable. Retaining copies of receipts, warranty information, serial numbers, and more can also pay off big time when a substantial claim arises. 

TIP 2: Promptly File a Claim and Put Everyone Necessary on Notice 

Soon after a loss, it is important to promptly file a claim with the insurance company. In addition, it is important to get a good idea about who else needs to be involved in the claim. Normally, your insurance company will provide you with information about what needs to be done. For example, if you had a majory fire or water loss, a mitigation company needs to go to the property to begin mitigation, demolition and restoration work. For theft or vandalism claims, you may also need to file

TIP 3: Mitigation – Your Legal Duty to Limit your Damage

As a policyholder, you owe a contractual duty to limit your damage as much as possible. What does this mean? In most cases, it means you need to take basic and reasonable precautions to avoid additional damage. For example, if you have roof damage, you should put a tarp on the roof. If there is water intrusion, you need to take reasonable efforts to extract the water to prevent mold from spreading throughout the property. Often times, mitigation is the last thing on a homeowner’s mind after suffering a major loss. However, failing to mitigate is technically a violation of your policy obligations and can give the insurance company a reason to limit your claim payout. 

TIP 4: Obtain Multiple Estimates from Qualified Professionals 

After a loss, the insurance company will normally send an adjuster to estimate the damage. The insurance company’s initial estimate is often not enough to complete repairs. It is important for a homeowner to obtain multiple estimates from qualified contractors and vendors to accurately estimate the cost of repair. Most policies (but not all) provide replacement cost coverage, which means you should ultimately recover the total value of the damage. As a homeowner, it is important to make sure your property is fully repaired and that you are not left in the lurch with substandard repairs. 

TIP 5: When to Get Outside Legal Help 

The claim process can often be slow and frustrating. Some insurance companies delay the claim process and stubbornly refuse to pay reasonable amounts on a claim. Sometimes a qualified attorney is necessary to push your claim forward to a reasonable resolution. Most homeowners do not realize that the law allows policyholders to recover items like attorney’s fees, interest, and additional damages when an insurance company unreasonably refuses to pay a claim. In other instances, smaller disputes of value can be resolved through an appraisal process. 

We recommend contacting a qualified insurance and bad faith attorney when these problems arise:

• Significant delays in processing or paying the claim. 
• Refusing to reconsider low claim payments. 
• Denying an insurance claim or seeking to take an examination under oath. 
  

Often times, an experienced attorney can help push problematic claims to a reasonable conclusion. 

For people looking to sale their properties when there is an open or pending claim, it is important to review your insurance policy to see if the claim rights can be assigned to someone else. Some policies will require the insurance company to approve an assignment whereas other policies are silent on the issue. Even where the policy prohibits assignment, many properties are sold with open claims with contractual contingencies regarding how the claim proceeds will be directed once they are paid. 

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