FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. According to the Insurance Information Institute, a standard homeowner’s insurance policy will cover damage to your home due to natural disasters. Standard homeowner’s insurance includes coverage to repair your home’s structure, coverage to replace damaged belongings, and liability protection. Standard homeowner’s insurance may also cover your living expenses should you be displaced from your home due to a fire or a natural disaster.
It is important to understand what is and isn’t covered by a standard homeowner’s insurance policy. Damage to your home due to hurricanes, lightning, hail, or fire is often covered by a standard policy. However, standard policies won’t cover you for all natural disasters. Flood and earthquake damage is not often covered by standard policies, so if you live in a flood-prone area, you may need to purchase additional coverage. Furthermore, there are a lot of limits and exclusions placed in policies that many policy ...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. If you own a condo, there are typically two types of insurance claims you might find yourself negotiating: your condo association’s insurance policy, also known as an HO6 and your individual unit insurance. According to SFGate, your association’s policy will generally cover common areas in your building and the building’s external walls. Any damages that occur inside your unit should be covered by your unit insurance policy.
Like homeowner’s insurance, most condo association policies don’t automatically cover the building for flood damage. If you are in a flood zone, your condo association will also be required to have a flood policy if your building is located in a flood area. Federal lending requirements also require condo associations to have coverage for bodily injury damages and property damage claims.
So, how do you know which claim you should be making? First, the association will generally make claims against the HO6, so individual condo ow...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. Whether you own a condo or a detached home, it is important to understand what is and what isn’t covered in your policy. According to Florida Today, a condominium complex is still fighting its insurance company for a $10 million claim. The condo association cites storm damage as the cause of the building’s structural issues while the insurance company claims that these structural issues existed prior to the storm. City officials have said that the building is not safe for human habitation due to the structural issues and have called on the condo association to tear the building down. The case raises interesting questions about what is and isn’t covered by typical homeowner’s insurance and a condo association’s HO6 policy. An HO6 policy frequently offers less coverage that a HO3 (typically what you would find for a standalone home vs. a condominium which are often HO6) policy. The condominium association policies typically cover common areas only...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. According to the Tampa Bay Times, homeowners, business owners, and insured individuals have made 125,356 claims with losses estimated to be around $3.43 billion due to Hurricane Michael. The hurricane struck the Florida panhandle on October 10th, and families are still struggling to recover from the devastation. The aftermath of a storm can bring immense stress for homeowners and business owners. You may be juggling many tasks at once—like making an insurance claim, trying to find a contractor to repair your home, and struggling to return to normal. Times like these can make individuals vulnerable to fraud. In the wake of Hurricane Michael, there have been several insurance claims scams that have been reported by the news. Here are some things you need to know when making a claim or when making repairs on your home.
Avoid transferring your “Assignment of Benefits” to a contractor. According to AARP, there can sometimes be a type of insurance scam...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. There are two main types of claims that a person can make after suffering a loss or damages: first-party insurance claims and third-party insurance claims. In a first-party insurance claim, you are making a claim against insurance you have purchased to protect yourself. If you purchased homeowner’s insurance and your roof was damaged in Hurricane Michael, you’ll be making a first-party insurance claim. If you purchased flood insurance and your home was flooded during Hurricane Michael, you will be making a first-party insurance claim. Health insurance is another type of first-party insurance. If you purchased long term care insurance and need to make a claim on this insurance, you are making a first-party insurance claim.
A third-party insurance claim, on the other hand, is liability insurance that protects the holder from claims made by a third party. According to Investopedia, car accident claims are the most common type of third-party insurance claim ...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. As the American population ages, more couples and families are taking out long-term care insurance. Long term care insurance can protect your family from the unexpected costs of emergency nursing home care, assisted living care, home nursing services, and long-term rehabilitation needs.
According to AARP, today’s long term care policies can have many restrictions. If you have recently taken out long-term care insurance, you may have to wait three months before you can make a claim and the policies may only cover long term care up to three years.
Long term care insurance can be expensive. According to AARP, it can cost you as much as $2,700 a year. In some scenarios, it can cost even more! When you’re paying that much, you expect your insurer to come through for you when you need it to. However, according to Forbes, many individuals with long term care policies find themselves facing difficulties when they go to make a claim. According to Forbes, long ter...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reports that an estimated 100,000 people have made hurricane Michael insurance claims. Approximately 71,000 claims are related to residential property damage, with 64,000 claims remaining open. Insurers estimate losses of $680 million in claims. According to News4Jax, the number of claims is expected to increase in the coming months.
What can you do if you’ve filed a claim and are waiting for your claim to be approved? According to Value Penguin, it can take some time to receive your claim because insurance companies might be inundated with claims in the days and weeks after a storm. If you haven’t yet made a claim after suffering damage due to Hurricane Michael, now is the time to act. Some insurance companies might pay out part of your damage claim while they wait to bring in an adjuster to assess your damages. It can be frustrating to not get your claim money right away, because you may need this money to begin repairs. Insurance...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. Many people remain homeless in Panama City after Hurricane Michael. According to the New York Times, residents of Panama City are asking FEMA to move more quickly to provide housing for the people whose homes have been destroyed or damage due to the storm. According to the Times, an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people may still be homeless after being displaced by the storm.
It’s understandable to want to get your home repaired quickly after a storm hits. You want to go back home and the best contractors might be busy with work or backlogged. Yet, when families become desperate to hire contractors after a storm, they can sometimes become the unwitting prey of contractors who do poor work, who overcharge, or who fail to complete projects. It is not uncommon to hear stories of people taking deposits and disappearing. According to the New York Times, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, many homeowners ended up with houses that, to this day, remain unrepaired...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. Hurricane Michael has caused widespread devastation across the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia. While the focus in the coming weeks will be on the homes damages and homeowner’s insurance claims, if your car was damaged in the storm, you also may have the right to make a claim. According to Business Insider, if your car suffered water damage, if windows were shattered due to falling debris and strong winds, or if the structural integrity of your car was damaged due to the storm, you will be entitled to make a claim if you have comprehensive insurance coverage. However, if you were involved in an accident due to wet roads, or if another car struck your car, you may be entitled to make an accident claim under your applicable insurance policy.
What steps should you take to file an auto insurance claim after Hurricane Michael? Here are some things to keep in mind:
Take Photos. Phone lines may be down in the immediate aftermath of a storm, which can preven...
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. Hurricane Michael left a trail of devastation when it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle. The New York Times reports that in some neighborhoods, flooding went as high as the roof of homes. Other homes were left shattered and destroyed. If you or your family lived in the storm’s path, you may be returning to your home just now or may have just started to assess the damage to your home. Insurance companies have certain responsibilities when responding to your claims for Hurricane Michael damage. Homeowners who need to make claims can also take some important steps to protect their rights. What can you do right now, to ensure your homeowner’s insurance claim runs smoothly?
Take Photos of the Damage. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the first step you can do to document damage to your home is to take photos before you perform any debris cleanup.
Make Emergency Repairs. Yes, we know you aren’t a licensed contractor, but your insurance compan...
