Given that your home is one of the biggest investments you make in your life, you protect it with insurance and by being proactive with repairs and upkeep. Unfortunately, circumstances outside your control can damage or even destroy your home.
A lightning strike could start a fire that damages your property and makes it uninhabitable until it’s repaired. A hurricane could sweep through the area, causing all kinds of destruction to your property.
When your home suffers damage that should be covered by insurance, you likely depend on a timely and reasonable payout from your insurance provider to cover the associated costs. Unfortunately, some companies engage in bad faith, reducing how much they pay out for residential homeowner’s insurance policyholders.
Some companies delay compensation far longer than is reasonable
When you have to replace the roof on your house because of hurricane damage, you can’t wait 6 months to get contractors in and working on your house. However, if you’re dealing with the fallout of a major disaster, you may not have the financial resources to pay contractors out-of-pocket.
Some insurance companies try to avoid their obligations to cover certain damages by unreasonably delaying the payout on claims to policyholders, some of whom may die in the meantime, lose the property or just give up because of those delays.
Some companies will just offer an inappropriately low settlement
Massive damage from a fire or hurricane could mean that you continue to uncover costs as the work begins on your property. Insurance companies may try to prevent paying on those valid damages by offering a very low settlement and thereby protecting themselves from future financial liability.
If you find yourself in a financially difficult situation because your insurance company won’t pay or has offered an unreasonably low settlement, you may be able to bring a bad faith insurance claim against them or redouble your negotiation efforts.