Storm Damage Attorneys in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale Roof Leak Property Claim Attorney
If you own any property, whether residential or commercial, it’s difficult to avoid the nerves when the weather takes a turn for the worst. Unfortunately, Floridians are accustomed to hurricanes and other extreme weather events. However, this doesn’t make it any easier when it comes.
As responsible property owners, we buy some insurance and assume this should be the end of the story. Yet, this isn’t always the case. Every year, thousands of people in Florida have problems with insurance companies whether it’s not offering to cover all damages or rejecting claims entirely.
With this in mind, we recommend talking with a roof leak attorney or hurricane damage attorney. As professionals in the field, The Injury Firm knows how to deal with insurance companies and seek compensation for your roof damage.
Filing Property Damage Insurance Claims In Fort Lauderdale
As well as hurricanes, Florida also experiences tropical storms and various other weather events that can damage the roofing of a property. In some cases, it’s high winds and falling trees that cause issues. Either way, most people, though aggrieved, are happy that they have home insurance to cover such roof damages.
To file a claim, you’ll need to follow the process below:
- Find your insurance policy and keep this at hand as you contact the insurance company
- Gather any photos, dates, and other evidence and information that you have
- Reach out to your insurance company and talk to them about the event
- Accommodate the following investigation and provide any information requested
- Speak to a licensed contractor about the damage to your roof (quotes and recommendations are important at this stage)
- Wait for the estimate and valuation from the insurance adjuster
Importance of a Fort Lauderdale Roof Damage Lawyer
With this last step lies the problem for most homeowners…insurance adjusters and companies don’t play fairly. After the damage to our homes or business properties, knowing that we have an insurance policy provides security. We think that it’s just a case of claiming, receiving money, and using this money to pay for repairs.
Sadly, the motivation of the insurance company isn’t toward the customer. Although this might sound strange, insurance companies are more interested in their profit. Therefore, they will use adjusters to find holes in your claim and do everything possible to reduce the potential value of compensation. They will try to blame you for the roof damage, claim that you didn’t maintain the roof properly, and more.
Remember, the insurance provider is a business. The more they must pay for your claim, the less money they have for the Christmas party at the end of the year - the lower their bonuses too. With this, we highly recommend working with a tropical storm damage attorney.
Over the years, The Injury Firm has seen all sorts of tactics from insurance companies. While some try to pin the blame on the homeowner or business owner, others take different paths to either delay payment, reduce compensation, or reject the claim outright. If you followed protocol, you deserve compensation because…well, this is why you invested in insurance in the first place.
The Injury Firm, as a roof damage lawyer, will assess the evidence and communicate with the insurance company on your behalf. The steps above might look simple, but a small error could reduce the compensation that you receive.
Limited Property Damage Insurance Coverage
During this process, it’s important to understand your policy and the fine print within this policy. A Fort Lauderdale property damage attorney will sit down with you and assess the finer details of your policy so that you don’t encounter problems later.
For instance, some insurance companies place limitations on their coverage. What does this mean? Well, many insurance companies have started to limit what homeowners and business owners can claim after hail damage. In other cases, only roofs younger than ten years are covered. Elsewhere, it might be that you need certain types of shingles for the coverage to apply.
With any property damage insurance claims, the most important details are often the ones written into the insurance policy. The Injury Firm has seen plenty of cases where the insurance adjuster tries to claim water damage as wear and tear rather than due to a specific weather event.
When battling an insurance adjuster in this way, evidence is essential. The Injury Firm will speak with independent adjusters or engineers and ask them to review the case. They might visit your home or business and assess the damage. If they claim that the weather event caused the roof leak rather than wear and tear, we’ll proceed with the case and use this as evidence against the insurance company.
The reason insurance companies can get away with these working practices is that not enough people challenge them. When a customer doesn’t have legal representation, they’re blindsided by the property insurance adjusters and settle for less than they deserve. Every year, people who pay their property insurance coverage each month are left in the lurch because the insurance company won’t pay a claim.
At The Injury Firm, we don’t think that this is good enough. If you pay monthly for the policy, and the event is covered under the policy, you should receive compensation to repair the damages - end of story.
Why Choose a Fort Lauderdale Property Damage Attorney?
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that it’s a simple case of making a claim and receiving compensation. As you’ve seen throughout this guide, insurance companies and adjusters do everything they can to limit compensation, and you deserve more than this.
After a tropical storm, hail, strong winds, or hurricane, you rely on compensation not only to fix the problem but also to keep your family going. If the insurance company rejects your claim, you’ll need to find the money yourself, and this can cause financial repercussions for many years. You can avoid this by contacting the reliable, professional, and determined property damage legal team at The Injury Firm.
The Injury Firm protects your legal rights, communicates with the insurance company (and negotiates when the time comes), gathers evidence, compiles a strong case, avoids common mistakes, and speaks with expert witnesses. If the insurance company fails to make a fair settlement offer, we even have the resources to take the case further. In many cases, the threat of further action compels the property insurance company to pay what you deserve.
If you’re wondering whether you should claim in the first place, it all depends on the damage to your roof. If you’ve walked outside and you only spot a couple of shingles, the cost of repair isn’t likely to go beyond your deductible. Therefore, you don’t need to contact a hurricane damage attorney.
On the other hand, a repair that will cost thousands needs to go through your compensation because you’ve been paying the premiums for this very event. When should you claim? Get in touch with The Injury Firm as soon as possible and we’ll ensure that you follow the right steps and get compensation to pay for repairs.
Don't wait - get in contact with a Fort Lauderdale roof leak attorney today. We’ll talk through your case, look at your policy, and protect YOUR best interests from start to finish (which is more than can be said about property insurance companies!).
