Florida homeowners and property owners know that unexpected losses can occur anytime, so they purchase insurance to protect their properties. However, the insurance company could still deny a claim. If an insurer denied your valid claim for property damages, you deserve to have your property repairs covered as expected.
You can seek legal help to hold the insurance company accountable for your covered losses. The Florida property claim denial attorneys with the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine can help you with your claim and seek a favorable outcome through an appeal. We’ll discuss your legal options and next steps during a free consultation.
How Florida Property Claim Denial Lawyers Can Help You Challenge a Claim Denial
A rejected property claim isn’t necessarily the last word from an insurance company. Instead, we can protect your rights and interests by appealing the insurance company’s decision. As we develop our strategy, we will review your insurance policy’s terms to determine your coverage limits and how much time you have to challenge a claim or file a lawsuit.
When our Florida property claim denial lawyer works on your case, they will:
- Investigate how your property suffered losses.
- Review how the insurance company handled your claim.
- Manage communications with insurance adjusters and other parties.
- Interpret confusing or complicated terms in your policy.
- Gather all case-relevant documentation (e.g., receipts, photos, and video footage) to support your property loss claim and why your insurer should cover it.
- Collect witness statements about the losses your property sustained.
- Assess your losses and assign a monetary value to your case.
- Negotiate for a favorable outcome.
- File a lawsuit if we cannot settle outside of court.
Common property losses that occur in Florida include:
- Storm and hurricane damage
- Flood damage
- Hail and wind damage
- Water damage
- Burst pipes
- Fire damage
- Roof damage
- Flooring and tile damage
- Pool damage
- Mold damage
- Tree damage
- Pool area damage
- Sinkhole damage
It Is Important to Know Why the Insurance Company Denied Your Florida Property Claim
When an insurer denies a claim, it must send a letter explaining why it did not cover your losses. However, if you did not receive a letter from the insurer that explains the company’s reasons for rejecting your claim, you should call it promptly.
Sometimes, there is a valid reason for doing so—but not always. Thus, our property claim lawyers will examine the insurer’s stated reason(s) for not covering your losses and determine its legitimacy. Common reasons for denials include the following:
- Insufficient evidence: If the insurer cites this reason, we could help you gather more proof to support coverage for your losses.
- Policy exclusions: The insurance company might claim the policy you purchased does not cover your loss. So, we will check your policy to ensure it clearly states and outlines all exclusions. Then, we will determine whether the insurer should cover your losses if it contains unclear exclusions.
- Your application contains a misrepresentation: The insurer must show you intended to omit or misstate information that affected its decision to cover your losses. However, our attorneys can challenge an assertion that you gave a false or misleading statement. For example, you may have misunderstood a question or thought you answered a question correctly.
- Failing to pay your premium on time: We could challenge this denial if you have proof of your on-time payment in full to the insurer. In addition, we’ll investigate whether the payment was lost in the mail or sent to the wrong address. Finally, the insurer might have lost or misplaced your payment when it reached the office.
- Not filing your claim on time: If your claim reached the insurance company after the filing deadline, it might deny it. We can check your policy for time-sensitive filing deadlines and determine if you filed your claim within the allotted time.
Insurers might also blame you for any harm to your property or claim they shouldn’t cover your property for wear and tear issues. Thus, we will review any reasons for a claim denial. Then, we’ll advise you on your next steps if we disagree with the insurer’s findings.
OUR CONSULTATIONSARE FREE
START YOUR FREE CASE REVIEW
Florida Property Insurance Companies Have Obligations Under the Law
Policyholders and claimants have rights, and our Florida property claim denial lawyers will protect them as we seek to have an insurer honor your claim. In addition, insurance companies have a responsibility to their clients, and they must meet them.
Florida Statutes § 627.70131 outlines some of these responsibilities, which include:
- Investigating your claim for property losses.
- Responding to your claim within 14 days.
- Sending you a form for a proof-of-loss statement.
- Responding to your proof-of-loss statement within 30 days to inform you of the insurance company’s decision.
- Notifying policyholders promptly when they must provide additional information to move forward with a claim.
- Providing a reasonable explanation to a claimant for a specific offer or claim denial.
- Paying your claim within 90 days once accepted.
In addition, our attorneys can help you prepare for a free mediation session with an insurance representative to resolve a claim disagreement. Finally, if you believe an insurer handled your claim in bad faith, we will review the situation and determine if your next step is to sue the insurer.
Call Us Today: Our Florida Property Claim Denial Attorneys Are Ready to Help
Insurance companies are supposed to help us in our time of need, and we rely on them to cover our losses when damage beyond our control occurs. However, that doesn’t mean they will always come through as expected. If your insurer denied your valid claim, the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine stands ready to review your situation and hold the insurance company to its contractual obligations.
You have the right to have the coverage you paid for. We will work on your case without any upfront fees or costs, and we only get paid if you recover an award. So, don’t delay, as we want to avoid missing critical deadlines in your potential case. Call us today for a free consultation.
