As a homeowner, you pay insurance premiums to ensure you’ll get financial help with repairs after a natural disaster, accident or other unexpected problem. After paying premiums for years and going through the trouble of filing a claim, you certainly don’t want to discover that your insurance company has refused to pay.

When this happens, it’s important to know you have rights. You may be able to convince your insurer to reverse an initial claim denial and pay what you’re owed, but you may need help from a public adjuster.

Frequently Denied Homeowners Insurance Claims

You’ll probably find your claim in this list of homeowners claims most often denied by insurers:

  • No or limited coverage for certain property — If you use part of your home for business or to store valuable items, your homeowners insurance policy may exclude them or offer very limited coverage. In other cases, your insurer may not count your expenses from damages against your deductible, so you’ll have to pay anyway.
  • Wear and tear or negligence — Typically, homeowners insurance covers unexpected damages, not problems caused by improper maintenance or neglected repairs. While you may believe you’ve done everything you can to keep up your property, your insurer may not agree.
  • Intentional acts — Few denials aggravate homeowners more than having a claim denied as an intentional act. If you attempt a DIY repair that doesn’t fix your problem or makes it even worse, your insurer may deny your claim as an intentional act.
  • Partial exclusions — In some cases, your insurer may agree to repair damages but not the actual source of the damages. For example, if an adjuster decides a leaky water heater failed because of age and wear, the insurer may pay for water damage but not to replace the water heater.

Insurance companies add such exclusions and limitations to their homeowner policies in order to limit their liability. They also may motivate their adjusters to minimize payouts in order to cut costs and increase profits.

For example, the typical Florida homeowners policy won’t cover floods from storms, but will cover water damage from most plumbing problems. To cover floods resulting from hurricanes or other storms, Florida residents need flood insurance.

How to Get Help With a Denied Insurance Claim

To make the most of your homeowners insurance, you’ll need to work with an agent in advance to get the coverage you need. You also should study your policy well, although many homeowners find the language of these documents confusing and difficult to understand. Insurers may use such jargon to their advantage.

Insurance company adjusters also sometimes make mistakes. You may be able to compare your denial notice to your policy and uncover a simple error or misunderstanding. In these cases, you can challenge the denial with your estimates, photos and descriptions.

Unfortunately, your situation may not be so clear-cut. In those cases, you should seek public adjuster help to ensure that your homeowners insurance policy protects you as it should. At Expert Public Adjusters, we have decades of experience with Florida insurance regulations and homeowners insurance policies.

Our public adjuster services include following up on denied claims, reducing the time you spend challenging them and getting fair settlements paid as quickly as possible. Most importantly, we work for you, not your insurance company. Call or contact us here whenever you need help from a public adjuster.