There have been many cases when homeowners were wrongly accused of setting fire to their house or exaggerating the value of their losses.
Almost all residents in the state of Washington have at least standard home insurance, which means you should be protected and have your losses covered if your house is damaged by an insured event. Unfortunately, there are many cases when the insurance company will unreasonably delay or deny your claim. If your house was badly damaged and you need money to fix it, you should consider talking to an experienced Washington homeowners insurance claims denial lawyer to understand what are your rights.
What are the main reasons home insurance claims are denied?
If you know anything about business, you’ll understand why the insurance company is taking forever to process your claim or why they turned down your request for compensation. They would much rather not pay you anything as that money would be coming out of their profit. Let’s have a look at the most common reasons insurers invoke to deny a claim and how a skilled insurance claims lawyer in Seattle may be able to help you.
Failure to pay your premium
This is one problem a lawyer might not be able to help you with. If you don’t pay your premium on time, the company can cancel your policy.
Not filing the documentation on time
The moment you file a claim and you request considerable damages, the insurance company will request tons of documents. Many of them are irrelevant and may contain information already submitted, but there’s little you can do about it. You must follow the procedure to the letter and make sure to meet the deadlines they set. If you want to avoid problems, an experienced insurance claims lawyer may be able to help you with the paperwork. Also, they will make sure there are no mistakes whatsoever in those documents, as this is another reason an insurer may use to deny a claim.
Fraud suspicions
There are indeed cases when such suspicions are justified and the company is within its rights to deny a claim or to delay it pending further investigation. However, there have been many cases when homeowners were wrongly accused of setting fire to their house or exaggerating the value of their losses. If that happens to you, there’s no question you’ll need a seasoned lawyer by your side.
Exclusion clauses
The part of the policy containing the exclusion clauses is a real minefield. Insurance companies use deliberately dense and confusing language in these clauses to limit the damages you’re entitled to or to deny you coverage for certain perils you thought were covered. These exclusion clauses are open to interpretation and it will take a knowledgeable lawyer to determine if they have the right to deny your claim or they’re just trying to cheat you out of your money.
When a claim is denied, the insurance company must explain why in a letter of motivation. After examining the content of that letter, your attorney will decide if you should file an internal appeal or sue the company for bad faith practices and breach of contract.
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