When an insurance company wrongfully denies your claim or delays it unreasonably, a skilled lawyer will threaten to sue them for acting in bad faith or breach of contract.
As a responsible North Carolina homeowner you have at least basic house insurance, if you did not go out of your way to protect your property against remote perils, such as an earthquake or an airplane crashing in your backyard. Unfortunately, when disaster strikes and you need to make a claim you may be shocked and outraged to see your legitimate request for damages denied or delayed for many months. If you find yourself in such a situation, you should look up the best homeowners insurance claim denial lawyers in North Carolina and see about your rights.
Main reasons why your home insurance claim may be denied in North Carolina
Lack of coverage
The devil is in the details and if you haven’t paid attention to the fine print on your policy you probably had no idea that water damage, for instance, refers to events such as a pipe bursting or the washing machine hose breaking. Instead, water damage caused by seepage is not covered.
Such exclusions offer insurers a convenient excuse to deny a perfectly valid claim. For instance, they might claim the damage to the walls and the items in your basement was caused by seepage and it’s your fault you didn’t repair the leaking pipe. They can do that even if you could swear there was no sign of anything damp in your basement before the pipe burst. The investigation that an insurer must conduct is done by insurance adjusters on their payroll, so you shouldn’t be surprised when they side with their employer.
The only thing you can do is talk to an experienced home insurance claim denial attorney in Charlotte, NC, and they will bring in a trustworthy independent insurance adjuster to offer an honest appraisal of the situation.
By the way, if the insurance company is trying to lowball you by reducing the value of your claim, an assessment of damages carried out by an independent adjuster can provide you with a solid argument to explain why you need more money than they are offering.
Technical errors
Your insurer may deny your claim if you fail to inform them of the loss-causing incident in 24 hours. Or they might claim you made some misrepresentations in your notice of claim. Or that you did not submit enough evidence, even though you sent all the documents required. They can always ask for more.
Insurance fraud
There are indeed cases when a homeowner exaggerates the value of the losses and this constitutes insurance fraud. However, an insurer looking for ways to avoid paying damages might accuse you of fraud even though you did nothing wrong. Don’t hesitate to hire a seasoned insurance claims lawyer immediately.
When an insurance company wrongfully denies your claim or delays it unreasonably, a skilled lawyer will threaten to sue them for acting in bad faith or breach of contract. If the judge determines the insurer broke the law, the company may be ordered to pay you punitive damages, which can be up to three times the damages you were originally entitled to.
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