Why does it take so long for insurance companies to pay money on clearly damaged property? While home and business owners consistently pay their premiums, their claims aren’t always paid out in a timely fashion. Claim payouts are especially slow when there is widespread damage from a hurricane or another natural disaster. Insurance-claim settlements can be slow for several reasons, but there are a few ways to help speed them along.
How Widespread Damage Affects Claim-Payout Speeds
When your home is damaged from a pipe break or an especially bad thunderstorm, it’s an isolated incident. Your insurance company can get someone out to you fairly quickly, and the process is normally seamless. You’ll have someone from the insurance company perform an inspection; an estimate will be written for damages, and you’ll have a check for repairs in a reasonable time frame. That is how the claim process is supposed to go. When damages are widespread, it delays every part of the claim process. There are not enough insurance company adjusters to go around, and they’re not anxious to pay out the sometimes billions of dollars in damages. In 2018 alone, natural disasters cost insurance companies $90 billion.
Insurance companies are businesses, and all businesses want to make a profit. Unfortunately, their profit can be your misery and delayed claim payout.
How Can you Speed Up the Claim Process?
There aren’t many ways to make an insurance company move faster, but one way to speed up the claim process is to hire a public adjuster. Public adjusters work on your side and represent you with your insurance company. Public adjusters are also more cost effective than lawyers. Lawyers can take about 33 cents on every dollar that you get, but public adjusters can only take 10% of a claim (if the damage occurred during a state of emergency). Public adjusters know the insurance lingo, understand policies and fight to get you fair payment. Sentry Public Adjusting will meet insurance personnel at your property for inspections, appraisals and any other appointments. We also write an estimate of our own to submit to your insurance company to get you more money for damages.
If your insurance company is still dragging its feet, a public adjuster can submit a formal complaint called a Civil Remedy Notice (CRN). A CRN lets your insurance company know that they are not holding up their end of the claim process. A CRN is filed with the insurer and the Florida Department of Financial Services. Insurance companies tend to move faster once action has been taken against them. Although not every instance calls for a CRN, nonresponsiveness, nonpayment and frequent misconduct can all be reasons to have your public adjuster file a CRN on your behalf.
How Can Sentry Help With My Claim?
Sentry Public Adjusting works for you, not the insurance company. We have your best interest in mind, and our adjusters have decades of combined experience in the insurance and construction industries. We want to help you get your home or business back to its original condition. You shouldn’t be at the mercy of your insurance company. If you’d like to talk with one of our experienced licensed adjusters, call us today at 844-443-4357.