Filing an insurance claim, especially after a hurricane, generally imposes financial consequences on policy holders. The online platform ClaimForward.com grants residents a free way to evaluate how their insurance company could raise premiums or apply surcharges after trying to recover damages to a home or vehicle.
Among the almost half million residential property owners in the state who have filed claims after Hurricane Irma, many of them might have an unexpected surcharge to pay when their policies renew. At ClaimForward.com, people can enter information about their policies and receive detailed information about their projected insurance costs. They might see whether the insurer forgives claims, an estimated amount of the surcharge or how an insurer’s surcharges compare to fees from other companies.
The language in some existing policies already creates automatic surcharges for specific types of damage claims, particularly hurricane claims. Hurricane Irma is expected to prompt insurers to raise premiums as well. Their premium increases must first receive approval from the Department of Financial Services. State approval only applies to premiums, however, and policyholders will be charged surcharges regardless of how regulators treat premium requests.
A person filing insurance claims for a home or business already bears substantial costs from damage because of high deductibles. Someone experiencing difficulty recovering compensation for covered damage might benefit from the representation of a lawyer familiar with hurricane damage claims. After examining the terms of the policy, a lawyer could answer questions related to coverage. A lawyer could assemble evidence illustrating the legitimacy of a person’s claim and show it to an insurance adjuster. This effort might encourage the adjuster to approve an appropriate settlement. If an insurer continues to dodge the terms of an insurance contract, a lawyer might prepare for a bad faith lawsuit.