If your life has just been turned upside down by a roof collapse or major plumbing leak that you can’t fix by yourself, you’re likely looking at more than ten thousand dollars in damage. While your home insurance policy will cover major repairs, you must file a claim in the properly allotted home insurance claim time limit with your insurance company to get your money.
HOME INSURANCE CLAIM TIME LIMIT
The time required to file a home insurance claim is normally not regulated by most states, but rather by the home insurance company itself.
In most cases, insurance companies set times as soon as 30 days to as far as one year from the date of the incident. The allotted time will be stated on your insurance policy and should be reviewed before you sign any documentation.
EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES
In some cases, insurance companies will extend the time they give you to file a home insurance claim. This normally happens if a major catastrophe occurred and affected a widespread area. If the insurance company is unable to dispatch an appraiser in time, an extension for the inspection will be granted.
If you’re unsure about the time frame you have for filing a claim, contact your insurance representative as soon as possible.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF
It is in your best interest to file a claim as soon as possible. If too much time lapses between the incident and the filing of the claim, the burden of proof might not hold up against the insurance company. More damage might have been done to the property by that time, skewing the inspection and forcing you to pay more out-of-pocket costs for repairs.
Being denied in this type of situation occurs when they decide to enforce the negligence clause in your contract. The company might feel that you were negligent because you failed to file a claim right away, possibly leading to more damage that the insurance company won’t cover.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE
Home insurance is a tricky business and there are many loopholes that insurance companies can jump through to avoid paying for some of your repairs.
Once a claim is filed, the bank has 30 days to send out an inspector. The inspector can be delayed, along with the claim, for an indefinite amount of time. The insurance company can do this as long as they send you a notice every 60 days saying that the investigation is ongoing.
The best thing to do is to file a claim as soon as one day after the incident occurred. This will allow for the process to get moving right away, especially if major repairs need to be done to make the home habitable again. Don’t let the home insurance claim time limit keep you from getting your money. Contact the Littleton roofers at National Home Improvement for help with your claim today.
