“On Property” - Insurance Claim Tips Blog

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“At Citizens, lawyers win, public loses” was the Tampa Bay Times featured editorial headline on Friday, September 27, 2013. This followed an earlier article in the Times “Citizens racks up millions in attorney’s fees and it denies claims” exposing the astronomical legal fees that have been paid to both plaintiff lawyers (policyholders advocates) and defense lawyers who represent the insurance companies.

Ran into an old friend and his wife at a restaurant we both frequent the other night. Bob is a property manager and my firm has not only represented his family but also some of the properties he has managed over the years.  I had not seen him for a few weeks and he reminded me of his call to me some weeks back about a water leak in his home. It seems the shower pan had given out and when the leak finally showed up, the damage was pretty extensive. He called his insurance agent who told him the water damage would not be covered due to the language the insurance lobbyists had recently pushed through about water damage that is over 14 days old.

Q. A pipe in my attic broke which caused flooding in a down stairs hall, bedroom and bathroom. When an assessment was done, mold was found. My policy has a cap of $5,000 on mold remediation. The contractor estimates for demolition and repair that are necessary to correct water damage have been categorized as mold remediation by my insurance company.

Q. My vacant property was vandalized (electrical, plumbing, bath & kitchen fixtures were destroyed). The insurance company denied my claim for vandalism as they considered theft was involved. Vandalism is a covered peril, theft is not. The definition of vandalism is not absolute (there are five to seven forms of vandalism, depending on the authority) and, there is no definition of theft given in the policy (nor will any representative provide one). One form of vandalism is that of acquisitive vandalism. Clearly when the value of the property damages exceeds 100 times the value of the petty theft, there would be a case for this form of vandalism. In this case the property damage estimate was $25,000 and the estimated value of the scrap wire and used fixtures was $200. Can a claim be successful based on the assertion that, barring a specific exclusion for acquisitive vandalism, the incident was in fact vandalism?

Q. I own an apartment complex that got hit by lightning. It seems electronics in multiple units is randomly going out.  Does this make sense?  If I file a claim, it looks like it should have just hit one or 2 buildings instead of 8 or 9. Will I have trouble getting a proper settlement? Unfortunately, I just don't trust the insurance company. I had a fire once and they treated me like a crook.