When a hurricane strikes and damages your Texas home or place of business, you expect your insurance policy to kick in and cover the damages. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, insurance companies refuse to pay the full amount for disasters and pay the bare minimum. While many people settle, it’s unfair as they’re getting short-changed. You will want to stay on the alert in case this happens to you.
Be aware of certain unfair practices by the insurance company
Your insurance company should cover disasters like hurricanes in full and not make an offer for a lowball amount when you’ve suffered damages. It’s important to be aware of certain unfair practices by the insurer that breach your contract. The following are the top red flags:
- The insurer refuses to respond to your claim or evidence you have provided for it
- The insurer constantly requests more information from you
- The insurer delays sending an insurance adjuster to your home to inspect the property
- The adjuster goes to your property but refuses to perform a thorough inspection of the damage while claiming other homes in the area have not been damaged
- The adjuster says the insurer won’t allow payment for certain elements of damage
- The adjuster acknowledges damages, but a new adjuster is assigned to your case without notice or reason
- The insurer sends an engineer to your property to argue the cause of the damages instead of sending an adjuster
- You get the runaround with various adjusters who claim to be familiarizing themselves with your claim
- You get a small payment for damages and more checks for damages the insurer claims were previously unknown
- You get letters from the insurer that include additional excuses for denials or underpayment
Who can you rely on for help?
An attorney can help you when the insurance company refuses to pay what you deserve after damages from a hurricane. An attorney knows the tactics insurers use and can fight to get you a settlement that’s more than fair.