Can My Insurance Deny a Claim if They Determine I Didn't Take Proper Precautions During the Storm?
When legitimate harm occurs, insurance firms handle claim payments. They might be entitled to reject your claim, nevertheless, if they feel you did not use sensible care to stop or reduce the damage. This is especially true during storms when particular actions could be needed to guard vehicles or property. Knowing what insurers expect and the part "reasonable care" plays may help you prevent possible claim denials.
During A Storm, What Are Appropriate Safety Measures?
Many times, insurance policies have wording about "duty to mitigate damages." This means you have to act reasonably to guard your property from more damage before, during, or following a storm. Standard precautions include, for instance, boarding windows, transferring vehicles to a safer place, and locking outside goods. Ignoring this can be seen as carelessness, which might cause your claim to be denied.
In flood-prone places, this could include storing sandbags close by, elevating priceless objects to higher levels, or installing sump pumps to handle extra water. For companies, it could include covering vital equipment to prevent storm-related damage or making sure crucial systems have backup power.
How Insurance Companies Evaluate Negligence
An insurance adjuster will look at the degree of the damage when a claim is made and decide if reasonable steps might have stopped it. Should they find that your lack of action aggravated the damage, they can reject the claim. One could consider neglecting to exercise reasonable care, for instance, leaving a car parked in a known flood zone while other parking was available. Likewise, not fixing a previously damaged roof before a hurricane can result in a denied claim.
Exceptions and Reversals
Particularly when storms intensify rapidly, not all preventative actions are sensible or even feasible in every case. You can contest the denial of a claim by your insurance carrier if they believe you neglected appropriate safeguards. Supporting your case could be presenting paperwork proving you tried to safeguard your property or proving the severity of the storm rendered it impossible to take appropriate safeguards.
Sometimes, challenges to rejection could also be justified by outside circumstances, such as a lack of warning or resources. If you feel your claim was unfairly refused, you could find benefit in speaking with an attorney or insurance specialist.
Conclusion
Policyholders of insurance companies are expected to use sensible care to guard their property during a storm. Ignoring this might cause a denial of a claim. Not every scenario is clear-cut, though; hence, appealing a refusal depending on evidence of reasonable care is an alternative. The best strategies to prevent claim problems include knowing your insurance and acting early on during a storm.