Common Mistakes to Avoid When Filing a Hurricane Insurance Claim

Surviving a hurricane is half the battle. The other half is getting a payment from your property insurer for any damage suffered. Unfortunately, insurers aggressively deny hurricane insurance claims. You need to hire the right law firm with the experience to get you compensation for your damage.

Contact Insurance Claim HQ. A New Orleans hurricane insurance claim lawyer can answer your questions. If hired, we will find useful evidence to use when contesting a denial or a low offer. Below, we highlight some mistakes to avoid with your hurricane insurance claim. By following these tips, you improve the chances of an acceptable result and can reduce stress throughout this process.

Mistake #1: You Delay filing a Claim

You don’t get an unlimited amount of time. Instead, the policy should spell out when you must submit a claim. You should call them and report the hurricane damage immediately. If you wait too long, you could forfeit your rights under the insurance contract.

Mistake #2: You Fail to Document the Damage

Many people who survive hurricanes want to immediately start cleaning up their yard and making repairs. We don’t blame you! It’s unnerving to have a hole in your roof—or no roof at all. But you need to fully document hurricane damage claims. This means you must:

• Take plenty of pictures of the damage. Use wide-angle photos and up-close shots. You cannot take too many pictures.
• Record a video while you walk through your property. A video does not substitute for photographs, but it can help a claims adjuster see the layout of your home.
• Create an itemized list of damaged items. You should already have a home inventory. If not, then you should create a list of all damaged items, including how much they were worth.
• Save damaged items, if you can store them somewhere safe. The adjuster will probably appreciate being able to see damage with their own eyes.

These are good first steps for documenting the condition of your home or property after a hurricane.

Mistake #3: You Don’t Mitigate Damage

You have an affirmative obligation to take reasonable steps which will mitigate damage. If a pipe bursts, you need to turn off the water as soon as you can. That’s mitigation. You take a simple, reasonable step to prevent further damage.

Pulling out wet carpets and furniture is another step that can limit the growth of mold. Also, cover up any holes in the roof and board up windows. These are reasonable steps people can take to make sure $80,000 in damage doesn’t balloon to $120,000. You don’t have to move mountains or take heroic action to prevent damage. And you certainly shouldn’t begin making permanent repairs.

If you don’t mitigate, then an insurer might refuse your property damage claim. In a sense, some of the damage is your fault.

Mistake #4: You Don’t Keep Receipts

A good rule of thumb is to keep a receipt for anything you purchase because of the hurricane. For example, you might have to relocate to a hotel for three weeks. You should keep receipts for everything you buy, including food, clothes, and the hotel room itself. These are additional living expenses that are often covered by hurricane insurance.

When you start having repairs performed on the house, remember to save receipts as well.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to prove your losses caused by the hurricane. An insurance company won’t be satisfied with a guess. Hurricane claims require documented proof.

Mistake #5: You Refuse to File a Claim Out of Fear of Increased Premiums

Filing a claim might result in increased premiums going forward. But this isn’t a reason to avoid filing a claim. If the damage amount falls under the amount of your hurricane deductible, you need funds to help rebuild. You have insurance for this reason.

A related issue is not submitting claims for all losses. Let the insurance company tell you something isn’t covered by your policy. Don’t decide ahead of time that it isn’t.

Mistake #6: You Don’t Provide Requested Information to Your Insurer

If they ask for information or photographs, get it to them in a reasonable amount of time. If you delay, they can drag out a claim longer, resulting in a greater wait time. Some insurers might request an unusual or ridiculous amount of information. That could be a sign of a desire to drag out the claims process and insurance bad faith.

Mistake #7: You Don’t Return Calls

You should stay in constant contact with your insurer. Give them your email and cell phone number and tell them which one you are more likely to check. Hurricane damage claims can take months, in even the best of situations. There’s no reason to needlessly lengthen the process yourself because you are inaccessible.

Mistake #8: You Accept the First Settlement Offer

Your insurer is not looking to give you the most money possible. Quite the opposite. You can expect an insurer to make a lowball offer.

They will claim your damaged property is less valuable than you thought. They can also say you should have taken other steps to mitigate damage. You shouldn’t simply agree to the first offer, no matter how generous it looks.

Instead, call Insurance Claim HQ. We can go over the offer and see if it’s fair. We can also develop strategies for convincing insurers to increase the amount they offer a property owner.

Mistake #9: You Negotiate without a Lawyer

In many ways, this is the worst mistake a property owner can make. An attorney knows how insurance companies think. A hurricane insurance claim lawyer with our firm can look at your property, including your photos and then tell whether you are getting a fair offer. In reality, the first offer is almost always low. This is as close to an iron law as you can find in insurance law.

Let us negotiate for you. We have seen all the familiar tactics insurers use to minimize claims. We can also remind them of their duty to treat you fairly. Some insurers will commit bad faith practices, and we might be able to sue them and increase the amount of money you take home.

Mistake #10: You Let an Insurance Adjuster Walk All Over You

A hurricane is a life-altering experience. Many people will lose everything—their homes, pets, and irreplaceable belongings. Others will sustain significant damage which renders the premises temporarily uninhabitable. In your traumatized state, it’s easy to let insurance companies walk all over you. They might refuse to come out and investigate, or they don’t ever answer your questions.

You might be shocked to receive a denial of your claim in the mail and can’t get anyone to explain why.

You need to stand up for yourself. You have paid premiums for years, with the expectation that your insurer would be there for you when you need them.

Some people are exhausted trying to hold everything together after a storm. Strongly consider hiring an attorney. An experienced lawyer can take over a claim, strengthen it, and advocate for increased compensation.

Speak with a Hurricane Insurance Claim Lawyer

Negotiating hurricane damage claims is frustrating. Too many property owners accept small settlements that don’t even begin to cover their damage. They end up unable to live in their homes or must borrow to make repairs. Contact our office to speak with a seasoned attorney about your claim. We’ve negotiated on behalf of many clients and won millions of dollars for property owners like you.