Before and After a Storm Hits: What You Need To Know

Property Insurance laws have changed and so has the language in most policies. Make sure you’re prepared before the next storm hits. Understanding how the law changes will impact you and knowing what your policy actually covers (and doesn’t) is critical. That’s why you need a lawyer with the know-how to guide you before and after a storm.

Dangerous New World of Insurance Law

Recent changes in the insurance laws have shifted to benefit the insurance companies. There are now shorter reporting periods for owners and longer response times for carriers with more hurdles before you can file a lawsuit.

On top of that, it has become almost impossible to “punish” insurance companies for not promptly and fully compensating you for your loss. Proving your insurance company acted in bad faith has become more difficult and carriers are no longer required to pay your attorney’s fees. In fact, there are virtually no repercussions if they underpay or ignore a claim. That leaves property owners with the difficult task of not only finding sufficient and affordable coverage, but then hoping to get paid when they do make a claim.

Moreover, vendors (like disaster relief companies, mold companies and roofers) now have no assurance they will get paid by an insurance company, so they will not (or cannot) wait to get paid fairly through the claim. Instead, they require upfront payment from you or possibly lien the property if they don’t get paid timely. As a result, much, if not all, of the required repairs remain unfinished and owners look to the association and property manager to provide them with answers.

Because of changes in the law, insurance companies are no longer concerned about paying a claim fairly or timely.  You need an experienced attorney who can review your policy, open and manage the claim, accurately scope and price all of your damage and provide support with disaster relief.

We handle insurance claims with the goal of achieving the best result in the least amount of time, so that owners can start the rebuilding process as soon as possible with the insurance benefits they deserve. When the insurance companies don’t comply with the policy or the laws, we will litigate the claim in court to get the claim paid properly.

Why You Need a Lawyer from the Beginning

In this new era of insurance claims, you cannot risk (afford) hiring a public adjuster who wants to be paid just for getting you money that you would have received anyway. Don’t give away a portion of your money from the claim to a public adjuster who ultimately has to bring in a lawyer. As lawyers who specialize in property claims, we can maximize your recovery because we understand the new laws, the policy language and what is covered and how best to obtain your maximum benefits.

Understand Stripped Down Insurance Policies

In this new world where premiums have skyrocketed and coverages have become more limited, you need to know what your policy includes as well as what it excludes. Common exclusions or coverage limits include:

• caps for payment on water damage,
• age schedules for roofs which limit what they will pay,
• right to repair or preferred vendor programs which prevent you from choosing your own contractor to do the repairs,
• and coinsurance requirements which penalize you if you’re underinsured.

On top of all that, you need to know what you can do to increase coverage and/or reduce your premium.

Let the experienced attorneys at Landau Law Group handle this for you.

Our attorneys work on a contingency and charge the same percentage for handling the claim pre-suit as a public adjuster. The public adjuster will charge 10 to 15% and will want to get paid on money even after they send the claim to an attorney!  There is no reason to give that money away when you could use it to fix the damaged property and get communities restored to the condition they were in before the disaster.

The lawyers at the Landau Law Group have represented thousands of policyholders in a wide range of insurance disputes including coverage disputes and bad faith claims. Our attorneys have significant experience assisting Florida property owners in their fight against their insurance carrier and have successfully resolved thousands of claims totaling millions of dollars.

We will help you maximize your recovery. Call the Landau Law Group now at 866-703-4878 or visit us at thelandaulawgroup.com

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