Fort Worth Homeowners Insurance Claims Attorneys

Strategies Used by Insurance Companies to Deny Homeowners Claims

While insurance companies rely on a multitude of approaches to deny claims, there are common tactics often used to mitigate liability for many homeowners insurance claims.  Insurance carriers recognize their advantage over policyholders, which includes experts, insurance defense lawyers, and extensive resources to minimize liability.  Insurers often use these advantages along with an insured’s lack of knowledge of the law and the complex terminology of lengthy insurance contracts to justify nonpayment or lowballing of claims.

Without knowledge of the terminology, coverage, exclusions, and policy limitations, policyholders have a distinct advantage when taking on insurance carriers without legal representation.  Fort Worth homeowners insurance claims attorneys at FH Law Group are well-versed in Texas property insurance laws and the interpretation of insurance policy language.  Frustrated homeowners insurance policyholders place their trust in this knowledge and FH Law Group attorneys’ experience trying over a hundred cases.  Some of the strategies we see homeowners carriers use to deny or underpay claims include:

• Canceling policies based on frivolous inaccuracies in the policy applications
• Confusing an insured with unfamiliar terminology
• Repeatedly denying legitimate claims to wear down an insured
• Delaying the resolution of claims to put financial pressure on policyholders
• Using experts with a history of reports and opinions favorable to insurers

Duties Owed by Homeowners Insurance Carriers to Policyholders

Texas insurance law imposes a fiduciary duty on insurers toward their policyholders.  While this is a complicated concept, insurers are bound by an obligation to exercise good faith and fair dealing when adjusting and paying a policyholder’s claim.  This fiduciary relationship means at a minimum that an insurer must be honest in communications about the claim and look for a basis to pay the claim rather than an exclusion, limitation, or exception to deny coverage.

When a homeowners insurance carrier violates its duty of good faith, the insurer might be liable for damages beyond the losses covered by the policy.  Homeowners insurance company tactics that might justify a claim for insurance bad faith include:

• Delaying payment without legitimate grounds
• Failing to conduct a proper investigation of the claim
• Intentionally lowballing a claim
• Misrepresentation or failure to disclose material facts about a claim
• Intimidating a policyholder into accepting less than the value of the claim
• Failing to communicate with policyholders about their claim

These are just a few of the bad faith practices that a homeowners insurance company might employ to avoid paying the full value of a claim in a timely fashion.  Our law firm is committed to providing the highest quality legal service when seeking the maximum recovery on a homeowners policy.  Contact us today for a FREE consultation at (817) 697-4400 or visit our website.