The insurance lawyers for the state of Louisiana at the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC help individuals with their insurance claims, their denied insurance claims, and with insurance bad faith. We help clients facing a range of property insurance issues. If your claim has been denied, or if you believe you are receiving a settlement lower than you may deserve, the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC is an insurance law firm in the state of Louisiana that may be able to help you fight for the best possible settlement under the law. Every property insurance claim is unique. An insurance lawyer in Louisiana will need to look at the language of your policy, determine whether there are any deductibles, and look closely at the insurance adjuster’s reasons for denying your claim or for offering you a lower settlement than you think you deserve.
The Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC is an insurance law firm in the state of Louisiana that can assist you with various aspects of your property damage insurance claim, hurricane damage claim, or any other claim you may have experienced. We can help with:
- Reviewing the language of your insurance policy, identifying exclusions and limitations and deductibles. We can evaluate the estimates provided by contractors, compare them to settlements you have been offered, and negotiate with insurance adjusters to help you get the best possible settlement permitted under the law.
- We can fight for your rights, gathering evidence, organizing documentation, and negotiating directly with insurance adjusters. When insurance companies see that you are working with a property damage insurance lawyer, they are more likely to take your claims seriously. An insurance lawyer may be able to get your insurance company to settle outside of court, but we are willing to take your case to court if we cannot settle through out-of-court negotiations.
- We can fight bad faith insurance claims disputes.
These are just some of the ways we can help. Every case is unique. Reach out to the insurance lawyers in the state of Louisiana at the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC. Our insurance lawyers are here to help you with every step of the claims process and can help you fight for your rights.
Insurance Denial Lawyers in the State of Louisiana
The Houghtaling Law Firm is an insurance denial lawyer in the state of Louisiana. Our insurance denial law firm can evaluate the reasons why your property insurance company has denied a claim. While there are legitimate reasons why an insurer may deny a claim, sometimes insurers act in bad faith and even misrepresent the language of an insurance policy. If your insurance claim has been denied, the insurance denial lawyers at the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC in the state of Louisiana may be able to help. What are some reasons why property insurance claims are denied? Here are a few:
- You failed to report damages to your property by deadlines. Insurance companies may have time limits by which you need to file a claim or submit proof of loss. If you fail to meet these deadlines, insurance companies can deny your claim.
- You failed to pay premiums, or you failed to pay premiums on time. Your insurance company can claim that you were uninsured if a premium was paid late or unpaid for several months.
- Your insurance company claims you made false statements. Insurance companies closely look at your proof of loss forms. Disputes in the claim process can arise if a company believes you don’t have adequate proof of a loss or don’t have receipts to support that you owned property for which you are seeking a settlement. Another reason insurance companies may even threaten to retroactively cancel your insurance is if, when an adjuster visits your property, he or she discovers you made false statements when seeking insurance. For example, if there are additions to your property that are not up to code, or you made changes to your property that you didn’t report to the insurer, you could face pushback or denied claims.
- You didn’t provide sufficient documentation to support your claim. This goes hand in hand with making false statements, but if you don’t have receipts or clear quotes from legitimate contractors, your claim could be denied. If you make repairs, always get receipts. If you get quotes, get them in writing from licensed contractors. If you have expensive property in your house, keep receipts and even consider adding the property to your insurance policy under a special rider.
- You failed to prevent against loss in some way. If your roof is damaged, you may need to cover the hole with a tarp, or make temporary repairs while waiting for your claim to be settled. Insurance companies expect you to take steps to prevent further damage to your property after the initial damage has been done. Another way insurance companies might try to deny your claim is if you failed to perform regular maintenance on your home. Let’s consider an example where you left a window broken and then water got into your home and damaged your floor. Your insurance company may refuse to pay for this water damage because the broken window wasn’t repaired due to neglect. Always perform regular maintenance on your home or property.
- You didn’t read the fine print, or didn’t buy enough coverage. All insurance policies have fine print and exclusions. It is important to read the fine print. For example, do you know what your deductible is? If you have a high deductible, you may have to pay for repairs out of pocket if they aren’t higher than the deductible. Do you have food insurance? Not all people who live in flood zones know they live in flood zones because these zones can change from year to year. If you don’t have flood insurance and your home is flooded, regular insurance may not cover your losses. Even more complicated is if your home is flooded and you suffer water damage due to some other reason—like a broken roof or window. Your insurance company may even have exclusions that take the company off the hook for these repairs. Don’t know what’s in your policy? The insurance claim denial lawyers in the state of Louisiana at the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC may be able to help.
These are just some reasons why insurance claims are denied. The best way you can protect your rights during the insurance claim process is to understand what is and isn’t covered in your policy, to pay your policy on time, and to submit proof of loss forms to your insurance company before the deadline.That said, insurance companies also face deadlines of their own. Once you have filed your proof of loss form, insurance companies have 30 days to provide you with a settlement. If insurance companies fail to offer you a settlement in this timeframe, they are delaying your claim and you may have rights. It can be helpful to correspond with your insurance adjuster in writing, and if you need to speak on the phone, to follow up with all discussions in writing to document everything. Having this paper trail can help your insurance denial lawyer in the state of Louisiana with your claim.
The Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC is an insurance denial law firm in the state of Louisiana that may be able to help you with the claims process if you believe your claim is being delayed or denied in bad faith. We understand insurance law and can fight back.
Insurance Claim Lawyers in the State of Louisiana
Sometimes homeowners or property owners need the help of an insurance claim lawyer in the state of Louisiana before a property damage claim has been denied. If you have suffered a total loss following a hurricane, fire, or other disaster, you may want to have a lawyer assist you with the insurance claims process. If you have to totally rebuild, you may be talking about a claim in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Having an insurance claim lawyer like the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC in the state of Louisiana can help you with these complex claims. The more money you are seeking from insurance generally, the more documentation and the more complicated the process is likely to be. An insurance claim lawyer in the state of Louisiana may be able to help.
Another reason why individuals hire an insurance claim lawyer is when they are facing cancelation from their insurance company. Insurance companies may have many reasons for why they are canceling, but a canceled insurance policy means you could face higher rates in the future and run the risk of not being covered. The insurance claim lawyers at the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC in the state of Louisiana may be able to help you.
Underpaid Insurance Claim Lawyer in the State of Louisiana
Was your insurance claim unpaid or underpaid in Louisiana? If so, the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC is an underpaid insurance claim law firm in the state of Louisiana that may be able to help you. Our lawyers can review your policy, estimate the fair value of your claim, and fight for your rights. You may only have a limited amount of time to make a claim under the law. Reach out to the Houghtaling Law Firm, LLC today.