Property damage claims can prove quite complex because you will need to ascertain the cause of the damage, the extent of the damage and how much the insurance company is liable to pay coverage. If you are the condo owner and say, for instance, the property has been damaged by leakage, you can claim insurance coverage. But it needs to be ascertained what caused the leakage. Water damage insurance claim is hard to prove, and coverage is equally hard to achieve, especially if you live in hurricane-prone areas. In such a situation, you need to contact Louis Law Group, a Condo Property Damage insurance claims lawyer based in Florida, to understand your rights regarding the compensation you can claim from the insurance company. Some of the reasons why you need to hire an insurance claims lawyer before filing for claims are as follows:
- Understanding condominium insurance claims
The first reason to hire a property damage insurance claims lawyer before filing the claims is to check your policy document. In the case of condominiums, there are usually two insurance policies. You will have one with the Homeowners Association or the HOA for the common property, and the other will be your insurance policy. The insurance claim you make should cover your personal property, and your lawyer will evaluate your insurance document and check its details to help you with the claim. Your lawyer will help you with a personal property damage insurance policy in the following manner:
- He will evaluate the insurance policy and check if you can claim coverage for the particular damage that your property has sustained.
- An insurance document varies, although; the language usually remains the same. Here it will be mentioned what products have been insured and how much compensation the company is liable to pay. Your lawyer will check the details and guide you regarding the filing of the claims.
- If the damage that your property is severe, then you will have to consider living elsewhere. The living cost has to be covered by the insurance company. Usually, this is mentioned in the insurance policy. However, this has to be noted while filing for the claims. But if you do not hire a lawyer, you will not know how much you can ask about living costs and how you should file this separately. Thus, you should discuss all of these with your lawyer. After that, start the filing process.
Your lawyer will provide you with all the support necessary to simplify the insurance claims filing process. This is necessary because it can be pretty strenuous and nerve-racking. The very fact that you will have to leave your home and live elsewhere till the repair has been completed can prove to be quite traumatic. Hence, you must discuss the compensation you can claim with your lawyer and initiate the claims process.
- Understanding the HOA condominium policies
The HOA condominium policies work as a master insurance policy and cover any damage sustained by the common areas of the place. If the staircases, playgrounds, patios, lobbies, heating and cooling systems or lobbies suffer any damage, then these are covered by the HOA condominium policies. These policy claims are not filed by any individual property owner but by the association as a whole. Here you will not be required to have your lawyer look into the policy before filing the claim, but the lawyer hired by the association should do it. If you are a member of the association, you should have the legal firm representing your HOA look into the claims your association is making before filing the claims. It is essential to understand that even in an HOA condominium policy, the insurance company’s attorneys will make maximum effort to reduce the compensation amount and not pay the claims you make. To ensure that your claims are not rejected on a technicality, you must have your lawyer evaluate the claims that you make before you file them. Your lawyer will ensure that the documents are in order in accordance with your association’s policy with the insurance company’s directives. This will ensure that the insurance company does not get a chance to reject the claims and are bound to pay the total compensation.
- Prevent any rejection of claims
You need to have your claims evaluated by your lawyer before filing them to prevent any chance of getting your claims rejected. Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
- Insurance companies often reject the claims if you cannot give adequate cause for the damage. Therefore, the establishment of causation of damage is necessary to get the claims from the insurance company. Your lawyer can guide you regarding the causation and help you get adequate compensation from the insurance company.
- Another factor you must consider is that the cause you show and the claims you make should not coincide with the HOA insurance claim. For example, suppose the association is already making an insurance policy claim to repair all balconies damaged. In that case, you cannot separately ask for compensation from the insurance company for the same damage.
- One more factor that you must consider is that insurance companies will always tend to mention that properties get devalued over time. Hence, the condominium is presently not as valuable as before, which would justify them not paying for the repairs. Here you will need a lawyer who can argue against the insurance company’s claim and prove that that property has not been devalued, thereby helping you get the maximum compensation.
The objective of your lawyer will be to ensure that your rights are upheld, and you get the compensation that you deserve from the insurance company. However, the insurance company will always try to deny your claims or not pay these in full. Hence, you will need to contact a Condo Property Damage insurance claims lawyer who will help you file the claims and be with you right from the beginning of the process. This will simplify the process and reduce your stress.
