Most people who own residential real estate in Florida have homeowner’s insurance. If you have a mortgage on your property, the financing company mandates homeowner’s insurance coverage.
Even if you own your home outright, you probably carry coverage to protect yourself from liability and to help you fix up the house in case though severe weather. You may even have supplemental policies for specific kinds of risk or particularly valuable personal property.
As soon as an incident affects the place where you live, you will need the help of your insurance policy. How long will it take for a claim to result in money or repair to your house?
Florida law imposes a specific timeline
Insurance companies have a strong financial incentive to deny valid claims, minimize what they pay and delay when they make payments. Bad faith insurance laws exist to hold insurance companies accountable and make sure that customers get the coverage they have invested in previously when they finally need to make a claim.
To ensure that insurance companies don’t leave your claim in limbo indefinitely, Florida lawmakers have specific rules about how quickly they must respond to and make payment on claims. State law only gives the company 30 days after receiving a proof-of-loss statement from a homeowner to respond to their claim. Once the company approves a claim, they then have 90 days to pay it in full or run afoul of state law. The company may also have to pay you interest if they delay the decision-making or payment issues processes for too long.
What if the company denies your claim or delays payout?
Sometimes, even though you have reviewed your policy, carefully filled out the paperwork and documented your losses, the insurance company will deny your claim or only approve part of it. Other times, they will give you the runaround, pushing the timeline out beyond what state law permits.
Whether you need to appeal a decision made by the insurance company or take them to court for a violation of state law, you may need help with that process. Getting the right support will help you handle a large homeowner’s insurance claim or respond to any misconduct by the company after you file the claim.