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Knowing Whether Your Home Insurance Claim Will Be Successful

2010-07-10

Every homeowner purchases home insurance with the hope that they will never have to use it. Although many plans include small deductibles, reasonable rates and excellent coverage, no one wants to have their home damaged and go through the process of making a claim, which inevitably involves more than simply filling out the paperwork. Consults with the company, insurance adjusters coming to the home and delays in payment can make the process of repairing a home after a serious weather incident or replacing valuable items after a theft a far more daunting task than it at first appears. But despite the best efforts of homeowners to be cautious, safe, and responsible, there will likely come a time at which a home insurance claim will have to be filed, and many clients wonder just what the chances are that their claim will be successful. Here are a few ways to help judge the likelihood that a claim will be paid out.

The first is the nature of the incident. If, for any reason, what has occurred to cause the damage in the home is, in full or in part, not specifically covered by the home insurance policy in place, a client can expect to have at least a part of their claim rejected. A policy that only covers event "A", but that is seeing events "A" and "B" claimed on it will only ever cover "A". Home insurance companies do not and will not ever cover anything that lies beyond the exact scope of their policy. Second, a homeowner must consider the extent of the damage or theft. Detailed records about the home's age and condition, as well as of the property lost, must be kept in order to be properly reimbursed. A large amount of property that is stolen but was never documented will not be replaced by the company because they have no proof of its existence.

Third, and often most importantly, a home insurance claim will always fail due to fraud. Misrepresenting what was in a home prior to it being damaged, or lying about what was damaged will always lead to failure. The trouble is that many homeowners do this unintentionally because they cannot remember exactly how much an object was worth or how many of a certain type of object was located in a home. Even unintentional mistakes about the nature or value of the property in a home can lead to a claim being denied.

While it can seem difficult to have a claim go through successful, the highest rate of positive outcome occurs when a homeowner is honest and straightforward and contacts their insurance company as soon as possible after the incident.