If you’re frustrated with your homeowners insurance claim denial, you’re not alone – the majority of claims are denied when submitted. This is due to a variety of reasons, but there are things that you can do to ensure your next claim doesn’t meet the same fate. We’ve outlined five common reasons homeowners insurance claims are denied and how you can fix them in order to better your chances of success.
1) The Statute of Limitations Has Expired
The Statute of Limitations is the amount of time that you have after an event has occurred to file a legal case. The Statute of Limitations for personal injury cases in all states except Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, and Georgia is two years. The Statute of Limitations for property damage in most states is four years. If your homeowner’s insurance claim denied because the statute of limitations expired on your claim, don’t worry! You can still get help from a lawyer and fix this problem. It might be necessary to sue the other party, but if they are found liable, then there will be no issue with getting compensation for damages.
If your homeowners insurance claim was denied because it doesn’t meet coverage requirements or some other reason like improper paperwork or insufficient evidence, then it’s possible that you can solve these problems and make another attempt at filing a new homeowners insurance claim. Just call your insurance company and they should give you some advice about what needs to be fixed before they will accept another homeowners insurance claim on the same incident.
2) Your Policy Has Lapsed
If your homeowner’s insurance claim denied, it is likely because you did not keep up with the premiums and your coverage has lapsed. This is a common reason for denial of claims. However, there are many other reasons that your homeowners insurance claim may have been denied. Review these five points and see if they apply to you: 1) You live in a high-risk area 2) You filed too many claims within a short period of time 3) You made major structural changes without notifying the company 4) The insurer thinks the damage was caused by natural disasters or theft 5) You lied about some of the information on your application Many homeowners think their homeowners insurance policy protects them against all types of property losses. But did you know your homeowners insurance policy can be canceled if you don’t pay the premium? Or that even one claim could be enough to get you turned down? When it comes to filing an insurance claim, make sure your home is protected before something happens. Use HomeChex’s homeowner quotes calculator and let us find out how much coverage will cost for you!
3) You Failed to Mitigate the Damages
No one wants to hear that their homeowners insurance claim denied. And it’s not just the denial itself that can be disappointing, but what led up to the denial. In many cases, the reason for denial is due to something you did or didn’t do. Here are five reasons why your homeowners insurance claim might have been denied and how you can fix them:
-You didn’t have enough homeowners insurance coverage
-You failed to mitigate damages
-Your deductible was too high
-You didn’t get enough outside estimates for damage
-The cost of repairs exceeded your home’s replacement cost
4) The Cause of the Damage Is Not Covered
A common reason homeowner’s insurance claim denied is because the cause of the damage is not covered. For example, if you have a fire that damages your home, your homeowners insurance policy will only cover damage caused by fire or smoke. If there are any other causes for the damage (like water), you would need a separate policy to cover it. Or if you know that your homeowners insurance claim was denied due to a technicality (like insufficient documentation), then make sure to gather up all of the necessary documentation and resubmit your claim. The Damage Is Not From an Insured Cause: Another common reason homeowners insurance claims are denied is because the cause of the damage was not insured. In this case, if you filed a homeowner’s claim on your home but had some landscaping done on the outside without informing your agent first, and then wind storm knocked down one of your trees in the process, then this could be one possible scenario where this may happen. As long as both were insured under two different policies at the time, however, most companies will reimburse for property damage stemming from such an event. The Building Code Violation Exception: There are certain building code violations which homeowners’ insurance does not cover unless they have purchased coverage specifically tailored to address those issues. For example, standard homeowners’ insurance may not cover damage from mudslides or earthquakes. Some things you can do to avoid having your homeowners’ insurance claim denied is to research what codes are applicable in your area before purchasing a new policy and call your agent about what type of coverage might work best for you.
5) You Submitted Incomplete or Incorrect Documentation
One of the most common reasons homeowners’ insurance claim denied is because they were submitted with incomplete or incorrect documentation. Check your homeowner’s policy and make sure you have all the necessary information and paperwork. If you’re still missing something, contact your agent or company for help. Other common reasons a claim might be denied Your insurer can’t find any recent damage on the property; You didn’t tell them about any changes in occupancy; You owe more than 20% of your coverage amount; Your cause-and-effect relationship between two events is unclear. For example, if there was no visible damage after a fire but smoke damages were found under the kitchen cabinets, it could be that the smoke damaged was caused by some other event that has not been detected yet.