Filing A Claim For Wind Damage
Mother Nature will sometimes throw you a curve-ball, and if your home didn’t survive a windstorm as well as you’d hoped, you will need to file a claim for damage. Filing wind damage insurance claims may be difficult to understand at times. This is where public adjusters can help you to understand your wind damage claim.
What You Need To Know Before Filing A Claim For Wind Damage
The only major catastrophes not usually covered by insurers are earthquakes, and floods, depending on the area you live in. Wind damage can be quite expensive and dangerous for your family, the integrity of the rest of your building, and the surrounding buildings.
1. Wind Damage Is Covered By Most Insurance Policies
Your average insurance policy will cover any wind damage caused by storms. Wind is one of the main risks to your home during a storm and your insurer will be expected to cover wind damage. If there is a storm that creates flooding and wind, it can be difficult to determine which one caused the damage. This is where public adjusters can help you recover the most for your damages.
2. Your Insurance Is Obligated To Replace Or Repair Your Roof
Your insurance company is legally obligated to either replace or repair your roof. Whichever is more cost-effective. This sounds like a simple idea, but it comes with its own problems. Your roofing or shingles could have changed color due to aging. Adding newer parts to it could lead to cosmetic issues, but replacing the entire roof isn’t practical and you probably can’t afford it. A lot of insurance companies do know about this problem. In these situations, where a roof has wind damage, they’ll try to come up with a compromise. However, they rarely give you what you are owed. That is where hiring a public adjuster comes in handy.
3. Understand That Anti-Concurrent Causation Clauses Are Dangerous
Many insurance policies have anti-concurrent causation clauses built into them. This states that when two disasters happen simultaneously and you are only covered for one of them, your insurer will not cover the damages. This basically means that if your home has its roof blown off by storm and it also floods, your insurer may refuse to cover the damage because your home wasn’t insured for flood damage in your policy.
In cases like this, hiring an experienced public adjuster to deal with your claim is vital if you want to be fully made whole after wind damage, or any other damage, that has occurred to or on your property.
4. Wind Damage Cover Is Required In Some Areas
In Florida, state law requires residential policies to cover any wind damage caused by a hurricane. There are some exclusions for higher risk areas in Florida which are not eligible for normal insurance policies but may be insured by the Citizens’ Property Insurance Corporation. If you live in a hurricane-prone area, double check your insurance policy, so you understand your coverage for damages caused by wind, or hurricanes.
In the event that you have experienced hurricane damage and you’re unsatisfied with what the insurance adjuster has told you, call a public adjuster. Their job is to get you the most money for your claim.
5. Hire Contractor’s That Have Experience With Wind Damage Repair
When a windstorm hits, contractors from all over the state could possibly travel to a specific area in hopes to cash in on more insurance claims. Storm chasing contractors might not provide the best quality of workmanship, this is why you should choose to work with qualified, local companies.
6. Use As Much Evidence In Your Claim As Possible
After wind damage has occurred be sure to take photographs of the damage, and if you have photos before any damage, be sure to add both the before, and after in your insurance claim. However, if your roof is damaged, let a roofing professional or claims associate take photographs to reduce the risk of injuring yourself. Also make sure to save news reports, and not clean up anything until a claim adjuster has visited.
If you hire a public adjuster to deal with the insurance company, they will do all of these things for you and more. They will be in charge of accessing the damage, collecting the evidence, and filing the claim. If that weren’t enough, hiring a public adjuster can increase the amount you’re paid out from your insurance company by as much as 700%! The best part is that Atlantic Coast Public Adjusters don’t get paid unless you do.
The Conclusion
Wind damage can be quite extensive and expensive. You want to be able to get the most out of your insurance claim, and if you do you will have complete peace of mind that you’ll be able to restore your home. If you have any questions about insurance claims or the process, call a professional public adjusters at Atlantic Coast Public Adjusters – we have all the answers! Contact our professionals today at (877) 561-2524 to schedule a consultation.