Your home is probably the biggest purchase you will ever make. Protecting that investment is important to your current well-being as well as your future financial success, so you made the smart decision to purchase homeowners insurance coverage. But you might not have realized that insurance companies rely on what you do not know when offering you coverage, and later when denying your claim. Washington’s complicated insurance law does not make this any easier.
A homeowners insurance policy will cover specific aspects of a home that are damaged or are considered to be a loss. This seems fairly straightforward, but insurance law is anything but that. Your insurance company uses complicated formulas to decide whether they actually have to cover any damages to your home and, if so, what they will pay. Like many other homeowners, you might be frustrated by the possible outcomes.
Of course, it is possible that your insurance company will agree to pay your claim. Before you celebrate, you should be sure that they are actually covering the full cost of repairs. If they offer an inadequate amount, you could be stuck with the financial burden of paying for repairs. On the other hand, they could offer the correct amount but then delay payment for an unspecified reason.
Your insurance company could also simply deny your claim. Denied claims happen for all kinds of reasons, sometimes for something as small as the insurance company questioning one small aspect of a claim. More than likely, your insurance provider is banking on the hope that you do not fully understand your coverage and will not fight them on the matter.
Working with the insurance company can feel like a hopeless endeavor. Between trying to decipher confusing insurance law language to trying to speak to the same person twice, it might feel like you are just running around in circles. This does not have to be your situation. You can learn more about disputing claims, important time limitations and relevant Washington state laws by visiting our website.