What do you do when your homeowners' insurance denies your claim? It's not uncommon. It happens every day. But just because your claim faces a denial doesn't mean that there's absolutely no hope and there's nothing you can do. As the policyholder, you have several avenues available to you when it comes to finding the best option to try to fight back against this decision. Reviewing your policy is a good idea, while the ultimate attempt to fight back against denial is the appeal—making the insurance company look at your case again and see if they made a mistake. You do deserve to be covered under whatever the circumstances of the incident were. That's how to dispute a homeowners insurance claim denial: gathering information, learn what's going on, and try to appeal it.
Gathering the Details
This right here is one reason why having an accurate statement when you make your claim is so important. By knowing the facts and the details, it helps you when filing an appeal. But you don't need only to have the facts and information regarding the incident: it helps to document the damages, list all of the conversations you have with your insurance company, and even do things like finding witnesses who can support your claim traditionally prove your story. If your appeal is denied, the only option you have left if you wish to continue fighting is taking your insurance company to court. Unless their case is impressive, most normal people would be at a disadvantage against the level of professional law representation an insurance company would have in court. Because of that, you have the best possible case is the first step.
Reviewing Your Claim/Policy
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. By looking over the claim once you have all the information, including how the insurer decided to rule, you can compare your policy's claim and see whether it fits the approach. Insurance companies deny claims regularly, but sometimes a mixup can occur with the paperwork, or someone could rule in a biased manner for whatever reason. Even if you aren't a professional, a little proactivity can go a long way in this manner, sometimes more than most people may think. It can let the insurance company examine the case again. Sometimes, they may see something they missed the first time or review the information differently depending on what was brought to light. This can also go well if you've brought in witnesses or document and present evidence.
Filing an Appeal
How to appeal a home insurance claim denial? You can contact your insurance company and attempt to file the appeal directly. Nowhere, while appealing, says 'guaranteed claim acceptance,' so don't get your hopes up yet. However, there's still a better chance than what happened before, which was a guaranteed denial. As always, documentation of damage is essential, but so is the presentation of maintenance and inspections. This showed that you're responsible and was doing everything possible to stop any damage. This does a lot to remove liability on your part. Finally, if all else fails, you're going to have to hire legal representation and take the insurance company to court. It's a good option if you just lost an expensive home: while a lawyer may be costly, it doesn't compare to a house that costs two-hundred thousand dollars, of course. Listen to your lawyer and give him all the information. You may still be able to win.