Questions You’ve Wondered About Your Insurance Claim
If you had property damage and filed an insurance claim, you may still be wondering why the insurance company denied your claim or if what you received was a fair amount. You may even be asking yourself if you could have gotten more for your claim had you hired a public adjuster.
We’ll unpack each of these questions in this article.
Why did the insurance company deny my claim?
The most common reasons insurance companies deny property insurance claims are:
- If the incident that caused the damage was a result of someone else’s negligence or due to an incident from a neighbor’s property. The insurance company may see that as a means to deny your claim stating that they are not responsible.
- If your insurance policy does not cover the certain damage claim type then this could result in denial. Be sure to check your policy for exclusions. Some examples where your property insurance policy may not cover damage include earthquakes, floods, and sewage backup.
- If your submitted claim is lacking explanation and detail of how the damage occurred, your insurance company could try to deny it. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to file and prove the claim. You will want to supply detailed documentation. This should include a complete inventory of damaged and destroyed personal property in your home resulting from the insured event. Read our related blog post, Three Ways to Track Your Home Inventory.
- If you waited too long to submit your claim. Waiting too long increases the chance of your insurance company denying the claim. Be aware of your policy’s time limit for submitting claims. Documenting damage is usually time-sensitive. It is best to catalog and submit evidence of the damage as soon as possible.
- If the damage occurred is below the deductible that needs to be met, then your insurance company likely won’t pay anything on the submitted claim.[1]
The insurance company should provide a reason for denial. Don’t give up if you believe your property insurance claim was wrongly denied by the insurance company. Call CORE Public Adjusters. Our experts will review your policy to determine if you have a legitimate insurance claim, and if so, we will help you reopen your claim.
Did I receive a fair insurance claim settlement?
This is a common question homeowners ask. It is normal to second-guess your insurance settlement. Sometimes it is obvious that the insurance company isn’t paying enough. However, other times, it may take longer to realize. Before you sign any release of all claims form, consider these three possibilities when you are reviewing your claim:
- If your damage happens during a time when your insurance provider is understaffed or employees are overworked (like after a major hurricane), the damage report they compile may be inadequate. They may rush your inspection and miss damage, or rush the report and overlook mistakes such as calculation errors. You can ask for a second assessment of your property to make sure you get a fair offer.
- If your property was not built following proper building codes or your property is not up to current code, this could result in extra costs when the home is being rebuilt. Your insurance company may not pay for these additional costs unless you have an endorsement on your policy that covers them.
- If your insurance company believes that there was wear and tear due to age and other factors prior to the damage your property incurred, they may deny full coverage. Instead, they may give you only the current value of the property at the time of damage.[2]
The best way to make sure you are receiving a fair claim amount is to consult a reputable public adjusting company such as CORE Public Adjusters. We will review your policy, thoroughly inspect your damage, submit a report that fairly represents what is owed to you, and stay on top of your claim until you are paid.
Could I have gotten more for my claim using a public adjuster?
Each case is different, but yes, you probably could have gotten more for your claim using a public adjuster. It is a public adjuster’s job to do just that. To dig deeper into this question, we hired an independent firm to compile preliminary data to quantify what “more” might mean. The aim was to identify the difference in insurance claim settlements in South Florida with and without using a public adjuster.[3] The team read online case studies and client testimonials. They documented initial settlements property owners received without a public adjuster and the final settlements having used a public adjuster. Although the research is preliminary, some interesting insights resulted. Compiled below is a summary of findings.
Examples of Covered Events
Property damage can occur for many different reasons. We found that insurance providers have covered damage from:
- Fires – damage to electrical system, garage, inside the home, and structural.
- Hurricanes and storms – damage resulting from mold caused by storms, roof damage, exterior and interior damage, and damage resulting from wind and rain.
- Lightening – roof damage, and consequential fire resulting from lightening.
- Tornadoes – resulting damage from wind and rain from a tornado.
- Non-weather events – damage from AC leaks, broken pipes, collapsed drain lines, deck leaks, dishwater leaks, faucet leaks, hose bib leaks, line and pipe breaks, plumbing breaks and backups, refrigerator supply line leaks, sewage leaks, shower leaks, and slab leaks.
This is not an exhaustive list of covered damage but gives us a sense of typically covered events. Ask your insurance provider to give you an exact review of what your policy does and does not cover. Alternatively, call us and we’ll review it with you.
Insurance Settlements Without a Public Adjuster
What an insurance company is willing to pay on your insurance claim is unique to your situation. It depends on your exact damage. Nonetheless, we can gain some insight from the data we collected from claims in South Florida.
First, let’s review the initial settlement offers by insurance providers without property owners being represented by public adjusters. On the low end, the initial payout of an insurance claim in South Florida without using a public adjuster was a settlement offer of nothing, $0. This was for claims related to roof leaks, deck leaks, water leak, plumbing issues, mold, hurricane damage, and storm damage. On the high end, initial settlement offers were as high as $3M. This was for a claim related to structural damage due to fire. The average initial insurance company payout without a public adjuster was $74,543.67 with a median of $10,083.
Insurance Settlements With a Public Adjuster
Next, let’s review additional monies public adjusters were able to recover for clients. Property owners typically enlist the help of a public adjuster when their insurance provider has denied or underpaid a claim. On the low end, our data shows that additional monies recovered by public adjusters ranged from $5,350 to $20,000. This was, typically, for claims related to non-weather damage such as AC leaks, roof leaks, pipe leaks, broken pipes, and drain leaks. On the high end, additional monies recovered by public adjusters ranged from $50,000 to almost $5M. This was, typically, for weather-related claims such as hurricane and fires, although roof leaks, plumbing issues, and appliance leaks are also represented here in the data. The average additional payout resulting from hiring a public adjuster was $206,776 with a median of $40,000.
If you have property damage, call us for a free consultation.
About CORE Public Adjusters
At CORE Public Adjusters, we manage your claim expeditiously and seamlessly from start to finish, while communicating with you every step of the way. We do that by having a team consisting of experienced adjusters and case management specialists working on your case, not just one person. Each team member working on your case is an expert in his or her job role, with exceptional knowledge and experience to move your case from open to closed as smoothly and as quickly as possible. You can put your full trust in CORE Public Adjusters, knowing you will be in good hands.
Call us or email us if you believe your insurance company underpaid or wrongly denied your claim. We may be able to reopen your claim or start a new one.
[1] McHenry, T. (2020, May 06). 8 Reasons Homeowners Insurance Claims Can Be Denied. Retrieved August 07, 2020, from https://homeandauto.selectquote.com/resources/articles/eight-reasons-home-insurance-claims-denied/
[2] Settling insurance claims after a disaster. (2020). Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://www.iii.org/article/settling-insurance-claims-after-a-disaster
[3] CORE Public Adjusters serves the entire state of Florida but we had to start this research somewhere, so we started with South Florida, which is the location of CORE Public Adjuster’s headquarters.
