Insurance claims in Florida have become complex with Hurricane Milton making landfall so quickly after Helene. Claims may become complex if your property was affected by both hurricanes and may impact insurance claims; you may require legal guidance in navigating this process.
What should Florida homeowners keep in mind when filing insurance claims after Hurricanes?
Take Steps to Safeguard Your Home
As per many homeowners insurance policies, the “duty to mitigate damages” clause mandates taking reasonable measures to secure homes from further damages or further destruction. If the house has already sustained damages, taking action now to mitigate further deterioration is paramount, as failing to do so can significantly impact insurance claims. Assuring proper mitigation can strengthen your claim and avoid possible cuts in coverage or compensation.
What steps can be taken to protect my home against flooding? To stop further water from seeping into your house, reasonable steps could include:
- Tarping damaged roof sections
- Boarding up broken windows
- Using sandbags to keep water away
- Moving your belongings elsewhere safely
- Making temporary repairs to stop mold growth as other reasonable solutions
These would all serve to safeguard against further flooding in the future.
Failing to follow these procedures could cause your insurer to reduce or deny your claim because the homeowner was negligent and caused additional damage. Keep receipts from any temporary repairs performed during an incident as evidence against yourself for possible reimbursement from their policy as part of your claim.
Insurance Companies May Use Multiple Deductibles
Florida homeowners’ policies typically contain two deductibles that differ significantly – an initial standard deductible and then another hurricane deductible which only applies once every calendar year. If damages caused by Hurricane Helene occurred, however, your hurricane deductible could already have been met; whether or not its requirements must be fulfilled again remains unknown at this point.
Examine Your Policy Carefully
If you have concerns about your hurricane deductible, legal representation can help ensure accurate application without overcharging your account. Since insurance providers aim to minimize payouts, legal assistance ensures they apply the appropriate deductible correctly and avoid charging you twice for coverage.
Insurance Companies Blame First Storm
Determining which storm caused damage during consecutive hurricanes can be challenging. Insurance adjusters typically attribute such damages to Hurricane Helene to avoid paying claims related to Hurricane Milton. This process becomes especially complicated if one of the earlier hurricanes already compromised your property.
Document Damage from Both Hurricanes
Adjusters may allege that damage from Hurricane Helene already existed before Milton, making it more challenging to make impact insurance claims on additional losses caused by him. Homeowners need clear documentation such as pictures or video that documents repairs made before Milton. An attorney could assist if this documentation is confusing or disputable by your insurer – helping ensure your liability and that no one shortchanges you by trying to minimize their liabilities by shortchanging you or cutting corners with repairs made between hurricanes.
Insurance Claim Processing Can Be Delayed
Insurance companies may become overwhelmed with claims after two major hurricanes strike quickly, leading to delays that make repairing immediate repairs difficult or renting temporary housing until payments arrive from insurance carriers. To address this problem quickly and expediently, the SB 2-D law of 2022 mandated quicker claims processing times.
What are the Insurance Claim Deadlines?
According to SB 2-D, insurance companies must acknowledge receipt of claims within 14 calendar days and begin an investigation within that same 14 days; completion must take place no more than 90 days later.
What If There Is a Delay in Delivery?
SB 2-D penalizes insurance companies who take longer than stated deadlines to investigate and process claims, encouraging them not to deliberately hold back payouts to force you into accepting lower settlement offers. Even so, delays could still arise should two hurricanes strike at once because insurance providers would become overwhelmed with claims to process.
Concurrent Causation Disputes Can Occur
Concurrent causation, an insurance term and legal concept, refers to multiple causes contributing to damage on property at once; often this causes issues for home-owner policies when multiple events take place simultaneously such as wind and floodstorms.
As part of a hurricane, wind can do major damage to your home; however, heavy rainfall and storm surges can also bring destruction. When both types of damage happen simultaneously, determining whether your insurance provider covers all or only part of it becomes vitally important, as this can significantly impact insurance claims resulting from the wind.
What Is an Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause?
Many insurance policies include anti-concurrent causation clauses which allow their insurers not to cover claims where an insured event, like wind, also contributed to them; in these instances, they might claim that part of the damage occurred due to flooding – an uninsured peril – so are therefore not fully responsible.
Flood Damage
Without flood insurance, adjusters might try to claim that most of your damages were caused by flooding. A lawyer can review your claim to assess which policy should cover it: wind or flood – as well as fight to ensure fair payments from insurers who refuse. Also, attorneys have great success at advocating coverage – particularly when both policies exist simultaneously and wind damage forms part of an overall total loss situation.
Bottom Line!
.Even under ideal conditions, understanding insurance coverage and making claims can be complex. Complications increase dramatically under stress-inducing conditions like hurricane season, especially when trying to understand how impact insurance claims work. But you don’t need to go it alone. Our 24/7 assistance service is here for you and can provide free consultation. Call now and don’t pay anything until we win your case.
Here at Jenkins Law we can fight for you with insurance companies who try to avoid paying what is owed. Holding insurance companies accountable is our priority. We are here for you each step of this stressful time. Call in and come by immediately to receive a free consultation if your insurance company is either delaying or underpaying payments. We are available to you at any time, any day. Jenkins Law PL is here to help you.
