Posted on March 5, 2021
ICHQ | Site Author
On August 27th of 2020, the fifth strongest storm to ever impact the United States landed near Cameron Parish, Louisiana, at 12 a.m. CST. Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm, only 7 mph away from being considered a Category 5. Causing the deaths of at least 42 people, Hurricane Laura managed to wreak over $14 billion in damages in western Louisiana and southeastern Texas, damaging over 400,000 structures.
Six weeks later, on October 9th, 2020, the record-breaking 10th named storm to hit the United States landed in the same area impacted by Hurricane Laura as a Category 2 storm. Hurricane Delta caused at least $4 million in additional damage.
Fast forward two months later, and the residents of Lake Charles are still recovering, rebuilding, and waiting on their Insurance to pull through. Many policyholders are being underpaid, denied and payments are being delayed. Thousands of Lake Charles residents are still in temporary shelters.
Here are the policies we see most Lake Charles residents struggling over with their Insurance Company:
Contents
The Contents portion of your policy is meant to pay for damage to, or loss of, an individual’s personal possessions. “Contents” is defined as anything that is not permanently attached to the structure of the home. When asked what contents were damaged, many policyholders will immediately go to the big items within their home—for example, the couch, tv, mattress, and so on. However, as mentioned, “contents” includes anything not attached to the home. This includes anything from the curtains to the electrical appliances, clothes in your closet to your children’s toys.
For example, one obstacle Policy Holders are having is their insurance companies asking them to have professional elections come out and evaluate their appliances to determine whether the damage was caused before or after the storm.
Ask yourself, “Have you ever moved without breaking one item?” The answer is no. So why is your Insurance expecting you to have all of your items intact?
Another obstacle Policy Holders are facing is being asked to provide proof of all items included in the claim. Know this, as a policyholder, you are required to turn in proof of purchase if you have it. However, if you don’t still have the receipt from that jacket you purchased in 2015 that got ruined in your closet, it does not disqualify that item from being covered in your Contents policy.
Every time the Insurance company places an obstacle in your way, there is a chance you will give up. If and when you rebuild, you are rebuilding a shell. It’s not fair for you to not have anything inside of it. Don’t give up. Get what is owed to you. Times are stressful enough. If you want to understand more information regarding your claim’s contents, we would be happy to talk with you.
