The Expert Podcast

…Anytime there's a major disaster And insurance claims become in the news We always like to put the message out there to consumers of how to get. Your insurance claims paid. How do you make sure that if you're filing a claim for damages on your insurance, that it goes through and it's approved because you paid good money for your insurance you paid your policies You want to get your claim paid. Well there's a couple of things to keep in mind to make sure your claim doesn't get rejected or flagged. Or somehow denied. First thing is start by reading your policy before you file a claim, take out your policy Look, it's not the most exciting reading. In the world, it's very boring boiler plate language, but go to the section that has to do with the type of claim you're filing If it's an auto claim. If it is a. A wind storm claim a flood claim. Look this hurricane Ian. Damaged. Tens of thousands of homes tens of thousands of vehicles There's going to be all kinds of claims going in. Some of them will get rejected and they'll get rejected because the insurer did not read their policy and filed a claim the right way It's not that they don't deserve the money, but you have to file the claim properly to get the money that you deserve. If at your claim you deserve to have the money. So first look at how you're filing the claim. Make sure it matches what's covered on. policy. Don't file a claim for something that's an exclusion. If that same thing is covered under a different area of your policy. We've seen many insurance claims that are filed improperly and to get denied. Where if they were filed the right way, they would have been approved a hundred percent. Sometimes even there's different deductibles on different types of claims And if you file it under the right category your deductible might be lower Now. Make sure that you don't lie You're not changing the facts. You're just applying them to the right category. You have to file it properly so that it meets the standards of that policy without of course. Lying. You don't want to do insurance fraud. Not only would your claim get denied but you can get big trouble for insurance fraud. Make sure you document everything before you file your claim. Document the condition, document the damage take pictures, get estimates, do everything you can. To support the facts that you're representing. Remember when you file your claim, you're going to have to sign a document under penalty of perjury. When you call up, you're going to be recorded. So make sure that you have notes in front of you So you're reading facts that you don't lose track of what the facts are because let's say if you file a claim and somebody says well how many…You know how many CDs did you have in your collection I have 200 Okay. And then later you file a claim and you put two 50, right? It might be an innocent mistake but if you have a difference of reporting facts, they might deny the whole thing because they think you're lying. Make sure you stick to the facts and you stick to the same exact representation make some notes, take your time Oh, look if it takes you an extra day to get through to file it because you're documenting. It's not going to be the end of the world Is that going to make a huge difference in your payout? These claims are going to take a while to get…settled Anyways, claim adjustment is a long process. Also if you're filing a homeowner's claim. Be aware that that insurer is going to do a title search on your house.. The reason they're going to perform a title search is to make sure that you're still the owner of the house. That if you have a mortgage they want to include the mortgage company which is good because you want to have your mortgage paid for. And also to make sure you don't have any extra liens on the house So get your house in order. So to speak when you're filing your claim to make sure that. All of the representations are factual. That you know exactly what you're representing and that it's consistent from one statement to another many times what the SIU department in insurance claims will do is. you the same questions. A different time or they'll have you refile a claim? Later or fill out another document They want to see if the facts are exactly the same from one to another. With this many claims coming in and with the catastrophic losses for these insurers. They're going to be looking for…exclusions They're going to be looking for exemptions They're going to be looking to not cover things, not because necessarily they're trying to rip you off. They're just trying to make sure they're not overpaying for claims So document everything, make sure it's all there whatever opinion you have about insurance companies. Forget that for now. You want to make sure that your particular. Financial situation has the best possible result within the law within the, Contract descriptions of your policy so that you don't lose out on money That's coming to you. And you don't give the insurance company. And out. Where they can not pay for something that they're supposed to. Good insurance adjusting. for an honorable insurance company is something they like to do They want to help their policy holders. but they also don't want to overpay. So document everything file it the right way be consistent but start by reading your policy So your insurance claim submission matches the terms and conditions on what your policy says, your