How Insurance Companies Underpay Homeowner, Condo, and Renter Claims
Insurers use specific tactics targeting each policy type. Understanding these shows why professional representation matters.
Receipt Requirements and Personal Property Denials
Your home burned, destroying all your possessions. The insurer demands receipts for every item before paying your claim.
They know you cannot produce receipts for belongings purchased over ten or twenty years. They use impossible documentation requirements to deny claims or force low settlements.
We prove personal property ownership using alternative documentation. We demonstrate that receipt requirements are unreasonable and not actually required under policy terms. We recover full compensation without receipts.
Depreciation Abuse on Personal Property
Water damage destroyed your furniture, electronics, and clothing worth $50,000 replacement cost. The insurer offers $15,000 after applying aggressive depreciation.
They claim your possessions were old and worth almost nothing. They value items as if they were garage sale goods rather than functional belongings.
We fight excessive depreciation. We prove items retained value and functionality. We document that replacement cost coverage should pay full replacement value, not depreciated actual cash value. We recover the difference.
Condo Coverage Boundary Disputes
Water damage from a roof leak destroyed your condo unit ceiling, walls, and flooring. Your HO6 insurer claims the HOA master policy should pay. The HOA insurer claims your policy should pay.
Neither insurer wants to pay. They point fingers at each other while you remain uncompensated. They exploit coverage boundary ambiguities to deny claims.
We analyze both policies to determine actual coverage responsibilities. We force the appropriate insurer to pay. We ensure damage doesn't fall through coverage gaps between policies. We recover your losses regardless of insurer finger-pointing.
Special Assessment Threats for Condo Owners
Storm damage affected your condo building. The HOA master policy insurer underpaid the claim. The HOA now threatens special assessments to cover repair shortfalls.
Your HO6 policy should provide loss assessment coverage protecting you from these special assessments. The insurer denies coverage or applies restrictive sub-limits.
We prove your policy includes loss assessment coverage. We fight for maximum protection against special assessments. We challenge HOA master policy underpayments that created assessment needs in the first place.
Additional Living Expense Limitations
Fire made your home uninhabitable for six months. The insurer pays temporary housing for three months, claiming you should have found cheaper accommodations or moved back sooner.
They pressure you to return to partially repaired properties. They dispute hotel costs as excessive. They refuse to cover meal expenses claiming you could have cooked in hotel rooms.
We document that your home remained uninhabitable for the full six months. We prove temporary housing costs were reasonable for your area. We recover all additional living expenses for the actual displacement period.
Renter Personal Property Minimization
Fire destroyed your apartment and all belongings. The insurer claims you didn't own items you list in your claim. They suggest you're inflating losses or claiming items you never had.
They accuse renters of fraud more readily than homeowners because renters lack property deeds and mortgage records creating a presumption of ownership.
We document your belongings using any available evidence. We create detailed inventories showing what people in your circumstances typically own. We prove insurers cannot deny claims based solely on lack of receipts.
Pre-Existing Damage Claims for Homeowners
Storm damaged your roof. The insurer claims the damage existed before the storm, citing normal wear and tear.
They use pre-existing damage claims to deny coverage entirely or dramatically reduce payouts. They point to any evidence of aging to argue the storm didn't cause the damage.
We obtain weather data proving storm severity. We hire experts who document how damage patterns match the storm event. We prove losses resulted from covered perils, not pre-existing conditions.
