My client’s home is insured by State Farm Florida. On July 1, 2010, there was a significant wind event in east Orange County, Florida. My client submitted the claim to his homeowners insurer. The homeowners insurer hired an engineering firm to inspect the house. The engineers hired by the insurance company wrote a report that there was no wind damage on the roof, and that any problems with the roof were due to the fact that the roof was over 20 years old.
However, prior to the July 1 storm the roof was not leaking and was otherwise functioning fine. The roof has substantial wind damage. (Such damage is relatively easy to see. For an article I wrote on how to determine if a roof has wind damage click here http://www.floridainsuranceblog.com/articles/insurance-coverage-homeowners/roof-claims/ The article also has a video showing a roof inspection, and how to prove wind damage to a shingle roof.)
In many homeowners claims, an insurance company will hire engineering firms to write them a report. Often those reports are quite favorable to the insurance company. If this happens to you DO NOT get discouraged. The fact that an engineering firm says that there is no wind damage, or no sinkhole damage, etc is not the end of the inquiry, IT IS JUST THE BEGINNING. Essentially, every insurance case I’ve ever won started with a denial letter.
My deal with people is simple: Never evaluate an insurance denial on your own. I will look at any insurance denial for free. If the insurer is correct I will let you know, and if they are wrong I will let you know that also.
In this case, because of the refusal to pay for the wind damage, I filed a lawsuit today for breach of the insurance policy.
As with most of my insurance claims, if I win this case the insurance company will have to pay my fees and costs, and if I lose, I’ll work for free.