5 Common Misconceptions About Property Insurance Representatives
When going through the aftermath of a disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake or fire, one of the first steps you definitely will take is to contact your home insurance coverage company to be able to file a claim. But having an insurance policy and filing a claim isn't a recipe for total reimbursement; quite often, home insurance coverage claims get denied.
A proven way to help ensure that your important claims are not denied is to learn the a number of different reasons that could cause an coverage company to deny it. While the following list is definitely not exhaustive, it does share many of the most usual reasons for denied claims.
Negligence: A home insurance policy is meant to protect against a number of different incidents but if a homeowner's negligence contributes to the damage, it could cause the company to deny the claim. Home insurance is meant to provide benefits for accidental damages and losses rather than those that occur because someone has been negligent to maintain his or her property insurance lawyers. As an example, if your roof falls into your house as result of a hurricane that could not be considered negligence but an accident. But if your roof caves in because you have termite damage that you neglected to treat then your insurance coverage will likely deny the claim.
Facts are not presented on the application: Coverage applicants are anticipated to be truthful when submitting an application for coverage. If, after making a claim, your insurance coverage company finds that you're not honest on your initial application for coverage it's possible that your policy could possibly be rescinded and your claim denied. When policy is rescinded the premiums paid are typically refunded and it's as even though the policy was never issued.
The premium is unpaid: An insurance coverage company has a contractual obligation to make good on the protections guaranteed within the policies it issues. Policyholders have no contractual responsibility to pay their premiums; should they pay late or don't pay at all, they will not be reported to the credit reporting agencies and can not be sent to collections. Alternatively, policyholders must pay their premiums on-time if they expect their insurance company to hold up its end of the bargain. It doesn't matter how several years you've had your coverage policy, if you neglect to make the premium payment on time and the policy lapses your claims will be denied.
Damage was caused by an excluded event such as flood: Your home insurance coverage policy will not offer carte blanche coverage for virtually every disaster that might damage your home. Even when something isn't as a result of your negligence, it still may not be covered on your policy. As an example, damages that occur as a result of floods are not covered by home insurance policies; instead, they are covered by flood coverage policies. Other examples include earth movement for example sinkholes and earthquakes and damages that occur during times of political unrest or terrorist attacks. Your individual policy may have its own set of exclusions and those are something that you should understand. Your insurance agent may even be able to help you locate a supplemental policy that will cover many of them.
The claim amount was less than the deductible: If your house insurance policy has a deductible, then that's the amount that you need to pay or absorb for damages that occur. Only damages that exceed this amount are reimbursed by the insurance company. Your policy could have many different deductibles for different incidents and kinds of damage.
The damaged property was used professionally not personally: If you operate a business out of your house or if you store business property inside the home during off hours, then that property may be excluded from coverage under your personal home insurance coverage policy. Commercial coverage is necessary to cover property that is owned by or used by a business. Even when you run a really small business out of your home, unless you've got a special endorsement your house insurance coverage policy that specifies your business assets are covered, your claim could possibly be denied.
One easy way to reduce the likelihood that your home coverage claims will be denied is to make sure that your particular policy is setup to meet your specific needs. Give us a call today and allow us to help you know how your coverage should be designed in order that it affords you the top protection.