Tips: When Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Want To Pay Your Claim! After Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida, a lot of insurance claims happened and a lot of insurance companies decided not to pay. What do you do when you are a homeowner and this happens to you? Here are a few tips to help you out if your insurance company denies your claim.

Tip 1: Don’t take the first “no” as your final answer.

Natural disasters like Hurricane Ian, mean a lot of simultaneous claims coming in at once and that means a backlog of claims and a rush for adjusters to get claims done.  This means mistakes happen, and it’s not because of the policy holder it’s sometimes just an administrative error. About 60 percent of claims are unjustly denied and only 1 percent event question their insurance when the claim is denied. Start by asking again for a review.

Tip 2: Do your homework and get the denial in writing. 

Insurance policies can be long and confusing but carefully read over your policy, highlight and have it on hand when speaking to your adjuster because you want them to know you’ve done your homework. If they come back with that denial make sure to ask for it in writing because most state laws require insurance companies to provide written explanations of claim denials. Failure to comply may constitute an illegal practice by the insurer.

Tip 3: Ask for help from your insurance agent. 

It might sound like a simple thing, but reach out to the agent from whom you purchased your insurance policy from directly for help. It takes less than five minutes to write that email, your insurance agent has a responsibility to protect your interests and that should be one of the reasons you used them in the first place.

Tip 4: Go direct to the insurance company.

If your insurance agent doesn’t solve the problem within 30 days, call the insurance company yourself. Be persistent, and keep going up the ladder until you reach your goal. Be sure to make a record of all phone calls, including the names and positions of everyone who you have spoke too because that shows your attempts to resolve the issue. Make sure to save your phone bills that show the call log, and write a letter asking for a response within 30 days. Make sure to send that letter certified or with tracking to show it’s been delivered, and keep a copy of it too.

Tip 5: Enlist outside help.

If you have to take the next steps, add extra backup from:

• Your state Department of Insurance – this is free. The amount of these departments can help varies from state to state.
• A professional arbitrator.
• A lawyer.

If you can enlist a lawyer’s support for your claim, you probably will have a better chance of successfully challenging a claim and if you’ve done your due diligence and it’s not gone in the right direction, take that next step.

Hope this blog, Tips: When your insurance company doesn’t want to pay your claim helps you out!