People who live and work in the Golden Triangle area of Texas between Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange were hit hard by Hurricane Ike and suffered many millions of dollars in damage, including business interruption losses. Now, both business owners and homeowners face a daunting task to rebuild.
That task will require relief in many forms, including insurance payments. Unfortunately, some companies in the US insurance industry have repeatedly shown that they are willing to commit insurance fraud rather than pay billions of dollars in damages and then try to deal with the consequences, perhaps in court.
One lesson is found in Florida where, during a recent two-year period, the state suffered $36 billion in property damage after four major storms or hurricanes. To date, only $15 billion of those damages have been collected from insurance companies, some of which consider profit when they refuse to honor claims for which they are contractually bound.
Homeowners and businesses with property damage insurance policies need to be vigilant and not allow insurance fraud to occur. For one thing, if an insurance adjuster comes along to offer a quick, low payment to settle the process, you should not accept such a settlement. Rather, you must insist on the full amount owed to you given the precise nature of the contract signed by both you and the insurance provider.
Also, don’t let an insurance company be recalcitrant, negligent, or slow to act. Such companies are required by law and contract to give you an acceptance or rejection of your claim within a short period of time, often two weeks. Failure to act promptly will not be viewed favorably by the courts, which also hold insurance companies liable for the ambiguity of any language in the policy that company wrote.
