I Have A Roof Claim, But I Am Worried About The Financial Cost of Hiring An Attorney
By: Kailey Evans
A windstorm, hailstorm, or hurricane happens and you are worried about your roof. You talk to a roofing contractor and they tell you that you have damage on your roof following the storm. You have been paying insurance premiums for years and decide you are going to file a claim. You file the claim and someone suggests (or you decide) that hiring a lawyer is a good idea. You start thinking “I want to hire a lawyer, but how much will it cost? What if I hire a lawyer and the insurance company does not ultimately pay my claim? Will I have to pay the fees for the insurance company’s lawyers?”
At Cohen Law Group, we want our clients to know up front and right away what their financial responsibility will be in a property damage case. We understand that our clients already have the stress of trying to get repairs/replacements done at their home and we do not want financial worries to add anything else to their plate. So, we make sure that we address all personal financial obligations with our clients at the beginning of the case and during the case if the possibility of additional financial obligations arise.
I want to hire an attorney at Cohen Law Group, but how much will it cost?
At Cohen Law Group, we work on a contingency basis. In the simplest terms, that means that we do not collect fees if you (our client) do not recover insurance benefits. It is a no-risk relationship in the sense that we front the cost of preparing your claim, instead of billing you for the costs, and collect the costs from the insurance benefits at the end of the claim. Therefore, as long as you proceed with your claim, you will not be obligated to pay out of pocket for any of the attorney’s fees or costs.
What if I hire a Cohen Law Group attorney and the insurance company does not ultimately pay my claim?
At Cohen Law Group, if we work on your claim and are ultimately unsuccessful in obtaining any insurance benefits for you, you are not responsible for our fees or costs. Again, because of the contingency basis that we work on for our clients, we do not collect fees or costs unless we recover insurance benefits on our client’s behalf.
Will I have to pay for the insurance company’s lawyers if my case goes into litigation?
A question we are often asked is whether or not our clients will be responsible for the insurance company’s attorneys once the case goes into litigation. The answer is, it depends. In most cases and based on Florida law, the insurance company is typically responsible for paying the homeowner’s attorney’s fees. However, once a case is in litigation, there are certain situations where the insurance company’s attorneys can file something that opens our clients up to potential financial exposure (including paying the insurance company’s fees and costs).
One particular scenario is called a Proposal for Settlement. After a case is in litigation, either side can file a Proposal for Settlement, which is a court document making a formal offer to the other party. If the insurance company files a Proposal for Settlement and a homeowner rejects the proposal, there is a possibility that the homeowner could be responsible for the insurance company’s attorney’s fees and costs of litigation. The specifics of the law are best left for another blog post (so be sure to keep checking back in to get more information – or call us to discuss further). However, whenever a Proposal for Settlement is filed by an insurance company in one of our cases, all of the attorneys at Cohen Law Group are excellent at reaching out to their clients and explaining the potential consequences of rejecting the proposal (including financial obligations) to their clients. We want to make sure that before our clients incur additional financial expenses, they are fully informed and prepared for the possibility.
Kailey Evans, esq.
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