A storm is coming, will your property insurance protect you?
With a hurricane or storm looming, it may be too late to modify your policy. However, if a storm or hurricane hits, you want to ensure your property and valuables are protected. You want the insurance company to pay for your loss, and return your property to how it was before the loss.
Insurance companies are always coming up with creative ways to deny coverage. You should always consult an attorney who can see how Courts are interpreting policy provisions, and get you the best outcome for your claim.
The below is not an exhaustive list, but these are a few of the things we often litigate in Court against the insurance companies.
Do you have enough coverage? You want to ensure you have enough coverage to rebuild your home, replace your valuables, cover any injuries and damages that happen on your property, and reimburse your living expenses after a loss of use of your home. Look closely at your policy limits, and ensure you are covered.
Is your coverage active? You may be under the mistaken assumption that your mortgage servicer pays your insurance policy, and your mortgage servicer may be under the assumption that you pay your insurance policy. Your policy may have lapsed, you may have received a non-renewal, and no one received correspondence, or it was not dealt with when the letters were sent out. Now is the time to contact your property insurance company to confirm your coverage is active.
Do you have law and ordinance coverage? Building Ordinance or Law insurance coverage is a reimburses property owners for the cost associated with demolishing, repairing, rebuilding, or constructing a structure if there are additional construction costs due to laws or regulations. This usually comes into play with the Florida Building Code requiring the property to be upgraded to conform with current specifications. This coverage is crucial for when completing repairs, and having your insurance company pay for hurricane replacement roofs and windows.
Do you have the right type of policy? Do you have an HO-1, an HO-3, or an HO-6 policy? The type of policy you have can determine whether you will even get paid for your claim. If you have a HO-1 policy it will only cover for 10 types of losses (fire, explosions, lighting etc), but will not cover for the most common type of loss water. An HO-3 is usually an all-risks policy with much broader coverage in the event of a loss. You have to know if you have the right type of policy. What often happens is a policy is purchased based on it being the cheapest, and it can be the incorrect type of policy, so you will not even have coverage when you make a claim.
Do you have replacement coverage or actual cash value? Replacement coverage generally means the insurance company will pay you the cost to replace the property with comparable material and quality. Whereas actual cash value is usually the fair market value of the item. Actual cash value can be much less in certain circumstances where items have been used for several years, and they are only worth a fraction of what you paid for them due to depreciation.
You should review your insurance policy to ensure it is giving you the coverage you need. Give us a call or email us your policy, and we will review it for you! If the unfortunate has happened and you have property damage, we can assist you!
As property insurance claim lawyers, we help people so they don’t get screwed over by their insurance companies! We sue Insurance Companies!
Insurance is a for-profit business, the less the insurance company pays you, the higher their profits and bonuses. Insurance Companies use expert adjusters, engineers, and attorneys. The only way to level the playing field is to hire your own attorney. We work with engineers, general contractors, public adjusters, and mitigation companies. Make the insurance company hold up their side of the deal, and pay you what you are owed!
Why use a Shupe Dhawan attorney for your insurance claim? Our fees are paid by the insurance company and not taken out of your settlement. We only get paid when we collect from your insurance company. We offer free claim evaluations, even if you have already been paid. Your insurance company has experts working for them, you should too!
We handle hurricane and tropical storm damage, plumbing leaks and pipe bursts, flood and water damage, fire and smoke damage, roof damage, and commercial property damage claims.
Neil Dhawan is a partner at the firm and focuses his practice on Insurance Claims and Immigration. He is a seasoned attorney, with significant litigation experience which includes handling over 1000 trials in the state of Florida and Illinois.
Offices in Fort Lauderdale and Weston, and serving all of Florida. Call us at 954-256-1419.
Make sure to visit our website at www.shupedhawan.com to learn more about the firm and partners!
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