What if Your Insurance Company Denies Your Claim for Storm Damage?
In February 2021, a winter storm hit Texas that dropped temperatures in some areas to as low as 3 degrees. Some insurance companies denied or underpaid claims for damage from the 2021 Texas freeze. Unfortunately, the time during which you could appeal these decisions has passed. However, these kinds of storms are likely to keep occurring.
What are your rights when you bring a claim for unpaid storm damage? What steps can you take if your insurance company has denied or underpaid your storm damage claim? Can you sue the insurance company?
Keep reading this brief discussion of storm damage claims and your rights to learn the answers to these questions. If your own claim for damage from a severe weather event in Texas is denied or handled improperly by your insurance company, arrange at once to speak with a Texas storm damage lawyer.
How Severe Was the 2021 Texas Freeze?
Those who endured it will no doubt remember the February 2021 Texas freeze for the rest of their lives. By February 15th, more than 3.6 million Texas homes and businesses were without power. Temperatures dropped to 13 degrees in Houston and to 9 degrees in San Antonio.
Almost 15 million people in this state were forced to boil water before drinking or cooking with it. More than 69 percent of Texans were without power for an average of 42 hours.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the February 2021 Texas freeze was responsible for 246 fatalities. Damages caused by the winter storm were estimated to be at least $195 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in the history of our state.
Given the weather patterns that are still occurring, a storm like this is likely to happen again. If you have damage from a severe weather event in Texas and are struggling to get what you feel you are owed by your insurance company, please call Flores & Pelaez-Prada at 855-STORMS-4 (855-786-7674) for skilled and experienced legal representation regarding your storm damage claim.
Has Your Freeze Damage Claim Been Denied or Handled Improperly?
While the February 2021 Texas freeze was a nightmare for millions of people in Texas, many Texas property owners were denied payouts from insurance companies that were rejecting or trying to underpay their property damage claims. While the deadline to recover that money has passed, it is still important to be aware of your legal options, should an insurance company deny your legitimate storm damage claim in the future.
Throughout the state, property owners struggled to get paid for claims that insurance companies denied, even though they had broken pipes, flooding, water damage, and other serious damage caused by the historic winter storm.
Know your options in case your insurance company acts in a similar way when you have a Texas storm damage claim.
What Steps Can a Property Owner Take?
According to WFAA in Dallas, from 60 to 70 percent of the 2021 storm damage claims filed by homeowners in some Texas communities were initially denied. Many who had property damage – and who presumably had insurance coverage – had to pay out-of-pocket for their damages.
If your insurance company denies your property damage claim arising from a severe weather event in Texas, take these steps:
- Gather all documentation of your losses and damages with photos and/or video.
- Ask your insurance company to explain in writing why your claim was denied or not paid in full.
- Ask a Texas storm damage attorney for personalized advice about your legal options.
After the 2021 Texas freeze, too many insurance companies rejected property damage claims – or refused to pay what those claims are worth – and that made it hard for many businesses and families in Texas to recover from the 2021 storm and repair their damages. Don’t let the same happen to you if you have storm damage claims, now or in the future.
What is Insurance Bad Faith?
Avoiding payouts and underpaying claims is how insurance companies increase their profits. An insurance company may try to minimize your damages, may claim that the damages were partially your fault, or may accuse you of exaggerating the amount and extent of your damages.
Do not let your insurance company abuse you or practice what the law in Texas calls “insurance bad faith.” If your insurance company has not taken its obligations to you seriously, you may have sufficient grounds for filing a lawsuit against the company – an insurance bad faith lawsuit.
If you live in Texas, and if your insurance company isn’t meeting its obligations to you, promptly discuss your situation with a Texas winter storm damage lawyer. The reasons why you may sue an insurance company for bad faith include failures to:
- negotiate your property damage claim in a reasonable manner
- investigate your claim seriously
- explain why your claim was denied
- either pay or deny your claim within a reasonable period of time
- offer you a settlement that approximates your claim’s actual value
Are You a Victim of Insurance Bad Faith?
Insurance companies are in business to make profits. When an insurance company faithfully meets its contractual obligations to policyholders, it should earn profits, but an insurance company should never be allowed to put profits above the legitimate claims of policyholders.
How can you know if you are a target of insurance bad faith related to storm damage? You will need to consult a storm damage attorney who will investigate both your claim and your insurance company.
But if an insurance company is making excuses, ignoring your calls, or giving you “the brush-off” in response to your storm damage claim, that insurance company is almost certainly operating in bad faith.
What Else Do Texas Property Owners Need to Know?
If you’ve sustained storm-related property damage, your first consultation with an attorney at Flores & Pelaez-Prada is provided with no obligation and free of charge. If you do hire our law firm, you will never pay anything out of your own pocket; attorney’s fees are not earned unless and until you receive a payout from the insurance company for your storm-related property damage claim. But here is the best part: your insurance company may pay your attorney’s fees for you. If a court finds that your insurance company has operated in bad faith, that court may order the company to pay your lawyer’s fee along with the full amount of your claim. Call us to find out how.
If you have a dispute over a storm damage claim, schedule a consultation now with a Texas storm damage attorney from our firm, and let that attorney fight on your behalf for the payout you need and for the justice you deserve.
