What insurance companies are required to do. When a disaster happens to your home, you like most people will be looking to your insurance company to file a claim. As a policy holder, you have been faithfully making payments to your insurance company so that in the event of a disaster you can be covered by simply paying a deductible.
Insurance companies are built on the principle of what is called “good faith.” This contractually obligates your insurer to fulfill their side of the agreement with you. When you sign up for a policy, you are agreeing to pay for specific kinds of coverage. For a homeowner’s insurance policy, you might elect a plan that will cover you for wind damage, flood damage and rain damage.
The specific terms listed in your policy are known as the “contract conditions.” The insurance company cannot violate these conditions in good faith. One thing these contracts will typically require is the prompt notice of any damage. When your property suffers damage, you will quickly need to begin filing a claim with your company. In this claim, you will list any and all damages. If you personally were injured, then you need to report the place of injury and what type of damage was sustained. Your job as a policy holder will be to provide this kind of information as well as copies of any legal documents you received.
Insurance companies do have the right to refuse or deny any claim, but only on legitimate grounds. One reason insurance companies will deny a claim is in the event that the damages do not fit the provisions in the policy. Sometimes insurance companies will claim that some type of action taken by you as the policy holder voided the claim. This may seem ambiguous, but this is because insurance contracts are open to interpretation by courts. This may also work in a policy holder’s favor. If the insurance company has wrongfully interpreted the contract, the holder can take the company to court and they may be able to recover the money they rightfully deserved.
It is never in good faith for an insurance company to deny the investigation of your claim. Your claim must be thoroughly investigated before it can be deemed a legitimate or illegitimate claim. At any time, a policy holder may seek legal help to fight against what they believe are bad faith practices of their insurance company. If your insurance company is acting contrary to the contract that you formed with them, you can seek legal help from an attorney. Arnold & Itkin can be the firm that you go to for help winning these types of claims, so get in touch with their firm today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Arnold & Itkin
Arnold & Itkin is a firm serving those who have suffered from the bad faith practices of their insurance company. If you need legal help in this way, be sure to contact a Houston lawyer from their firm. You need attorneys who aren’t afraid to go up against big insurance companies in order to get you the justice you deserve, which is exactly what you will get when dealing with this firm.