Hurricane Irma Insurance Claims Deadline Approaching
Hurricane Irma caused massive property damage throughout Florida. Residential roof damage is one of the most common types of damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Unfortunately, roof damage can be very difficult, if not impossible, to notice.
Fighting a Denial of Coverage for Wear and Tear Roof Damage
Within the realm of homeowners’ insurance roofing claims, among the most common reasons why insurers deny claims is wear and tear. “Wear and tear” refers to the damage to your roof that happens as your roof ages, particularly as the roof reaches the end of its usable life. Wear and tear is almost always excluded by the terms of your insurance policy, so insurance carriers will deny a claim if they believe that the claimed damage was caused by normal wear and tear rather than by a covered event, such as a storm or a hurricane.
The Dangers of Right to Repair Clauses in Your Insurance Policy
When you file a claim with your insurance company after your property has sustained damage, the insurance company may elect to invoke its “right to repair” clause under your policy. These provisions may seem innocent enough at first glance. However, a “right to repair” clause may give an insurance company total authority in choosing which contractor to perform repairs covered under the insurance policy. In other words, you may lose control over selecting a reputable contractor who performs quality work.
What is Ordinance and Law Coverage?
Ordinance and law coverage is extremely important for many reasons and many people don’t have a good understanding of how it works. Ordinance and law coverage is additional coverage that is available to you so that the repairs you do are brought up to the current code.
What is UM coverage and why is it so important in Florida?
Unfortunately, this is a common situation for many drivers since Florida currently does not require its residents to carry bodily injury liability coverage (BI) for non-commercial purposes. In other words, Florida only requires non-commercial drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Property Damage Liability (PD). PIP covers 80 percent of all necessary and reasonable medical expenses up to $10,000 resulting from a covered accident, no matter who is at fault. PD coverage pays for damage to another driver’s property caused by you or someone else driving your vehicle.
Ways to Keep Safe While Running Essential Errands
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), social distancing is vital right now as we work to slow the spread of COVID-19. One of the most important things, the CDC points out, is to avoid shopping if you’re sick or have symptoms of COVID-19, which include a fever, cough, or shortness of breath. This sounds pretty straightforward, however, on April 3, 2020, WESH 2 News Station published breaking news article where the heads of Seminole County were forced to make an executive order that required anyone who has tested positive for the virus to stay home or face penalties after the county learned that people who tested positive for the virus had been leaving quarantine and traveling around the county running errands.
Can you get a new roof if it doesn’t trigger the “25% rule?”
If you have a replacement cost policy with law and ordinance coverage, you may have a claim for roof replacement even if the peril created damage did not damage 25% of your roof to initially trigger the Florida Building Code’s replacement requirement (see my previous blog posts explaining the “25% Rule,” Law and Ordinance coverage, Actual Cash Value, and Replacement Cost coverage). If physical damage is incurred in making repairs to the peril created damage, then that should also be covered in the adjustment of the claim pursuant to Section 626.9744, Florida Statutes, which states as follows:
Why Does My Insurance Company Want An Appraisal?
You might hear the word appraisal and think of the appraisal you have done when you purchase a house. However, in the context of property insurance, appraisal means something very different. Most property policies provide for appraisal, a voluntary dispute resolution procedure used by insurance companies to avoid the court system. Appraisal is typically invoked by the insurance company when they have underpaid the claim.
Selling Your Home With An Open Insurance Claim
Selling your home during the pendency of an open homeowner’s insurance claim can raise a lot of legal questions. Whether you intend to retain the right to receive insurance benefits under the policy or assign them to the new buyer, it’s important that you document the damages and make necessary disclosures to protect your legal and financial interests. Here are some pointers on what to document when selling our home with an open insurance claim to ensure you recover what you are owed.
Hurricane Irma Claim Closed, Can I Still Make a Claim For Newly Discovered Damage?
In 2017 homeowners across the state of Florida made claims with their insurance companies for damage to their roofs following Hurricane Irma’s devastating hit to the peninsula. Some of those claims were wrongfully denied or grossly underpaid. However, on many of these claims the insurance companies extended coverage for the roof replacement, paid for the roof replacement and closed the claim. Now many homeowners are just noticing damage to other parts of the home that was caused by Hurricane Irma. For example the framing on the screened enclosure/Lanai was compromised or the windows of the home were compromised during Irma and are just now showing symptoms of that damage. If you are in this same boat and wondering “can I file a supplemental claim for damage that occurred from a hurricane that hit over two years ago and the insurance company already paid and closed the claim?” I have some good news for you: the answer is probably YES as long as you didn’t sign a release of all claims in exchange for payment on the initial claim.