Are You Fighting With Your Insurance Company?
Your insurance policy is one of the best ways you can prepare for a hurricane. Having the proper policy in place and paying your monthly premiums should guarantee that, in the event of a hurricane, your insurance company can compensate you and have the damage repaired. The main types of damage that a hurricane can cause include:
- Rainfall-Induced Flooding: Hurricanes come with heavy rains that can affect areas hundreds of miles away from the storm’s initial landfall. While smaller hurricanes often bring five to 10 inches of rainfall, larger storms can surpass 50 inches of rain. Even light flooding can cause considerable damage to building foundations.
- Storm Surge: Hurricane winds often push seawater up towards the shore as they make landfall. As the edge of the storm reaches the coast, water levels will slowly begin to rise. The water levels will rise with increased speed as the eye of the storm comes closer to land, pushing potentially massive waves across the shore. One cubic yard of water weighs approximately 1,700 pounds.
- Winds: High winds often cause the most damage during hurricanes, uprooting trees, tearing down power lines, pulling structures apart, etc. Any debris caught up in the wind can quickly become a projectile and fly into other structures, causing massive damage and even breaking directly through walls and houses.
- Tornados: Some hurricanes also produce tornados which can cause additional wind damage, pick up debris, and even uproot houses from their foundations.
After a hurricane, the first step that you should take is to document your losses. Although an insurance adjuster assigned to your case will evaluate the damages, it is important to complete a survey of your property as well. The more evidence, the better. You can take pictures and make notes so that you can notify your insurance company. Even after taking these measures, your insurance company might deny you coverage.
Natural disasters cause insurance companies to panic because of the sheer number of people affected by the event, which means that there will be a large influx in claims. A large influx in claims means that the insurance company will have to shell out the funds for their policyholders. After a hurricane, there is a good chance that your home will be rendered uninhabitable. You need coverage for massive repairs and even to cover the costs of a temporary living situation.
Understanding Your Insurance Policy
Understanding your insurance policy is a key component in getting the full scope of compensation. If you know that your particular insurance policy covers wind damage, and yet your insurance company is refusing to pay for the shingles that the wind ripped off of your house, then you might have valid grounds for a claim. Our firm can help you better understand your insurance policy and find areas for compensation that your insurance company might be trying to conceal.
Doing a comprehensive review of your insurance policy might reveal that the extent of your coverage was limited even though you were not initially aware of this. Even in these cases, your insurer may have wrongfully limited your coverage in order to avoid paying you as much in the event of a natural disaster such as a hurricane. These are details that can be uncovered with the help of a skilled lawyer.
Hire The Right Attorney To Handle Your Insurance Claim
If your initial attempts to work with your insurance company fail to secure the results you need, it may be time to bring in legal assistance to help you secure the cooperation and financial assistance you pay for. At Robert Sparks Attorneys, our Tampa attorneys have decades of experience working with clients whose insurance companies have broken off communication with. We will work with you to ensure that your insurance company cooperates you to provide the coverage they are supposed to provide and help you get back on your feet. Contact us today by giving us a call at (813) 606-5050 or by filling out our online form.
