What to Do If Your Wind Damage Claim Is Underpaid

If your wind damage claim is underpaid, review the terms of your policy and gain a clear understanding of your coverage. Go over how the insurance company calculated the amount they paid you, and make note of how they categorized the payments, as there could have been a misinterpretation of your policy conditions.

Going through the appeals process can prove difficult fast, especially when you’re trying to tend to the wind damage your property sustained. However, a Corpus Christi wind damage claim lawyer from our team can review the payment and fight for a payout that covers your losses under the terms of your policy.

Disputing the Underpayment of Your Wind Damage Claim

If you believe the insurance company underpaid your wind damage claim, the best thing you can do is to know your policy. If you haven’t already done so, read through it and check for coverage limits, deductibles, and exclusions.

Once you have a firm grasp of your policy, review how the insurance company calculated the payment. How did they categorize the damage? Maybe they didn’t account for all the ways the wind damaged your home. This is where you’d want to gather evidence of the damages, such as:

• Video of the damage with narration throughout it to give the insurer a full understanding of the extent of the situation
• Photographs of the damage (e.g., broken, curling, or missing shingles, granule loss, siding damage, dislodged gutters, and other structural damage)
• Photographs of the temporary or permanent fixes (e.g., covering openings in the walls or roof with a tarp or the removal of debris)
• Estimates, receipts, and invoices of the necessary replacements or repairs

Then, contact the insurance company via email or mail to dispute the underpayment. It’s important that this correspondence is in writing. Attach all the documentation you’ve compiled and explain why you believe they underpaid your wind damage claim.

A Corpus Christi insurance claims lawyer can help you at any point in the process.

Reasons an Insurance Company May Underpay Your Wind Damage Claim

It’s not uncommon for insurance companies to undervalue or outright deny wind damage claims. They’re a business and want to safeguard their bottom line, especially when a widespread disaster affects thousands of their policyholders. If they underpay you, their reason could be any or multiple of the following:

• Policy exclusions
• Inadequate or lack of evidence
• Failure to submit all required documents
• Underestimation of damages
• Failure to mitigate the damage
• Pre-existing damage
• Missed deadline
• Lack of maintenance

Sometimes, the insurance company has valid reasons for their decisions, but we can file an appeal or resubmit the claim for a higher payout. On the other hand, we may discover that the insurance company was acting in bad faith, like if they made unreasonable delays or refused to properly investigate what happened.

If they refuse to stop employing these unfair practices, you may have grounds to file a bad faith insurance lawsuit against them.

Per Texas Insurance Code § 541.162, you must generally bring legal action against them within two years of either the day the bad faith method occurred or the day you discovered it.

There may be exceptions to extend the deadline, but it typically can’t be tolled. Trying to file after two years may keep you from holding the insurer responsible. However, contacting our team sooner rather than later allows us to file suit on time.

A Wind Damage Claims Lawyer on Our Team Can Fight for Fair Compensation

Figuring out the reasons for the underpayment and taking the steps to appeal it can be difficult, especially if it’s your first time going through the insurance claims process. However, one of our Corpus Christi property damage insurance claims lawyers can assume all the following tasks, giving you the time and space to take care of things at home.

• Read and interpret your insurance policy
• Review the insurance company’s payment
• File an appeal
• Collect different forms of documentation
• Communicate with the insurance company
• Handle settlement negotiations
• Go to trial, if necessary

Our lawyers will fight for compensation that covers your losses under your policy limits and terms. David is an experienced Texas insurance attorney. He’s unafraid to stand up and take action against the biggest homeowners insurance companies.

We will be in touch with you throughout the claims process, as our team will send you consistent updates on your case. You can also text Stephen and David, and they respond seven days a week. You’ll connect directly to them instead of a secretary. You can expect a quick reply from them, as well.

How Much It Costs to Hire Our Wind Damage Claims Attorneys

There’s no need to worry about paying our attorneys upfront or out of pocket when you’re in the middle of a wind damage claim. We serve clients on a contingency-fee basis.

That means that only if we secure a payout for you will we collect our payment. In a no-cost, no-obligation consultation, one of our team members can further explain this arrangement to you so you’re never surprised.

Common Recoverable Damages in Wind Damage Insurance Claims

Insurance policies vary, so the losses you can recover following wind damages will be specific to your coverage. However, it’s common for policyholders to obtain these forms of damages in a claim:

• Relocation expenses
• Cleanup costs
• Business interruption expenses, if applicable
• Structural damage

How long you have to file for coverage will depend on the language in your policy. In any case, it’s best that you act fast. Just like with the bad faith insurance lawsuit, the state probably won’t permit you to file past the deadline, which would leave you to make for all the damages. However, hiring one of our attorneys soon after the event helps mitigate this risk.

Call Us If the Insurance Company Underpaid Your Wind Damage Claim

Our team wants to help you after the insurance company underpaid your wind damage claim. Whatever your situation, we are here for you. Reach out to Carrigan & Anderson, PLLC, today.