Picture this – your home is damaged by a storm, but the damage is minor. Maybe some hail damaged your fence, or you got “lucky” and the hurricane didn’t really hit your area; it just blew out a few screens on your pool enclosure. You call a handyman and get it repaired for a few hundred dollars, which is well below your deductible, so no problem right? You move on.
Your insurance policy almost certainly requires prompt and timely notice of any claim. In practice, what this means is that if you knew of any damage, regardless of how minimal, and you do not provide notice to your insurance company at that time, you may not be able to get a full recovery if you discover more damage at a later date. When you find yourself in this situation, you should at least hire a qualified professional to inspect your property and make sure there are no other damages. But the best practice is to report a claim, even if you think the damage is under deductible, so the insurance company has the opportunity to inspect. After that, if the insurance company determines the claim is in fact under deductible, then it will be closed, no harm, no foul. You can always re-open the claim later if new damage is discovered, and then the insurance company will have a harder time arguing they did not get fair notice.
Time and again, when pursuing a claim for damage that was discovered a year or two after the storm, we hear clients say “well, the roof wasn’t leaking, I can’t see it from the ground, and I’m too old to go up there – what was I supposed to do?” In many jurisdictions, even if the homeowner did not know of any damage at all, the law will presume late reporting in this situation. That presumption shifts the burden from the insurance company to the homeowner, and now the homeowner has to prove that the late notice did not prejudice the insurance company’s ability to investigate the claim. If the judge or jury sides with the insurance company, and finds the delay did prejudice the investigation, then you may recover nothing at all for damage that should have been covered by the policy. In the case where the homeowner knew of some damage right away, just not the full extent of it (the hail damaged fence or the wind blown screens described above), the homeowner’s battle is even tougher.
If instead, you have a professional inspect the property right after the storm, and damage is discovered, you will have saved yourself a major headache. Now the claim can be timely reported. Even better, it will be easier to establish that the storm caused the damage.
Whenever you do encounter the need to file a claim, expect the insurance company to send you a letter asking for more information. Read any such letters carefully, and, if you feel you need help, contact an attorney. Please feel free to read our other blog posts or call the office for additional advice to guide you through the claim process.
Thomas Boyd, ESQ.
