Pissed off that your insurance claim was underpaid?
You should be!
Was your insurance claim underpaid? We get emails like this one all the time:
“I have been through a lot with my insurance company. I had to make an insurance claim after a hail storm and they are only paying me half of what they are supposed to pay for it. I am really upset about this because now I am going to be out thousands of dollars that should have rightfully been paid by them in the first place.”
Insurance companies make money by collecting as much as possible while paying out as little as possible. They get away with treating their customers like crap because most people don’t think they have any options to fight this. And most people are wrong.
In all of the time that we have been doing this, we have NEVER seen an appraisal from an insurance company come anywhere close to what it should be. It’s not uncommon for a $10,000 claim to actually be worth $50,000 or more – yes, insurance claims can be underpaid by tens of thousands of dollars. The difference can be staggering – and that’s money that is rightfully owed to you.
If You Feel Like Your Insurance Claim Was Underpaid, You Have Options
You don’t have to settle for poor customer service and an insurance company that doesn’t make good on it’s promises. Make sure you know what rights you have when your insurance claim is underpaid.
- Read Your Insurance Policy – Make sure you know what rights your insurance policy gives you. Most policies will include the right to have an appraisal and the steps that need to be taken to dispute your underpaid claim.
- Hire A Public Insurance Adjuster – A public insurance adjuster has a legal obligation to represent your best interests and help you fight for every penny that you deserve. A public insurance adjuster knows the rules that insurance companies have to follow and will make sure the insurance company doesn’t drag things out hoping you forget about them.
- Consider legal action – If the public insurance adjuster estimate shows that your insurance claim was underpaid, you can consider legal action against the insurance company to get them to pay. Your public insurance adjuster will likely know an attorney that will be willing to help you out on a pro-bono basis, meaning you won’t have to pay the attorney anything unless they get a judgement in your favor.
I've already cashed the check from the insurance company. Is it too late?
The state requires insurance companies to allow for supplemental claims to be submitted. For instance, if your claim was for a portion of your roof to be repaired but then you discovered that the entire roof needed to be completely replaced, that could be submitted under a supplemental claim. There are also times where they paid for the roof repair, but didn’t include any payment for interior damages. This too can be submitted as a supplemental claim.
