After Hurricane Irma hit my home in Florida, I thought my roof was the only thing I had to worry about getting fixed. But after making the claim with State Farm, I found out that my claim was denied due to weather conditions. This left me frustrated, confused and with no idea what to do next. Here’s what happened and what I did next…
Check Your Policy
State Farm denied my roof claim, so I went to their website and found the section on how to file a state farm insurance complaint. After reading through the policy, it looked like they were denying my claim because of the flood damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. The section also said that because this was an excluded cause of loss, State Farm could deny my claim even if there was evidence that it damaged my roof.
I wasn’t satisfied with this explanation, so I called State Farm customer service and explained that they didn’t have a case number or any other information about me when they denied my claim. After discussing my situation with them for a while, State Farm agreed to reopen the investigation and provide me with a case number so that we could go over all of the specifics together.
Gather Documentation
State Farm denied my roof claim and I was left feeling helpless. After weeks of frustration, the company finally agreed to send someone out to inspect my home. The inspector found that some shingles had fallen off, but that the damage was mostly cosmetic. Still, state farm refused to cover anything. I decided to take a different approach and appeal their decision by gathering documentation for proof of damages. It took a lot of time and effort but it paid off in the end when state farm finally agreed to pay for repairs on my roof. They even apologized for how long it took them to get back to me! I learned a few things from this experience: First, you need to be proactive with your claim from day one. Second, keep all documents related to the issue in one place so you can easily find what you need when submitting an appeal request or reporting an incident. Thirdly, don’t let anyone tell you no until you’ve given it your best shot!
File a Complaint
After receiving a letter from State Farm denied my roof claim, I decided to call my insurance agent. He told me that he would contact his supervisor and get back to me with an answer. After waiting a week, my agent called me back to tell me that the supervisor said it wasn’t possible to file a claim due to their policy.
I was frustrated and felt like there had been some sort of mistake on State Farm’s end, so I contacted them again. When they finally got back in touch with me, they told me that because this was not considered an act of God, State Farm could not help.
I contacted an attorney who specializes in insurance claims, and he was able to review the documents for free and explain how the policy worked.
Get a Lawyer
I knew that State Farm would not be willing to negotiate with me on this claim, so I set out to find a lawyer. The first lawyer I contacted turned me down due to lack of funds. This was discouraging, but it made me more determined than ever to find a way around this problem. Finally, after hours of searching, I found a law firm willing to work on my case for what seemed like a small sum considering the size of the settlement they were seeking. It turns out that they only wanted $2k upfront and then the rest when we won the case or settled out of court. They believed that because the matter would involve time and resources, they should be paid for their services in advance. At this point in time, I had no other options. I agreed to sign up with them and pay up front. Thankfully, it all worked out in the end.
A month later, they filed suit against State Farm denied my roof claim and we went into negotiations with them again! They gave us a substantial offer at this point which amounted to more money than if we had just accepted their initial offer back in June (and saved myself 3 months of stress). We took their offer and signed off on the paperwork without any hesitation! All said and done, State Farm was going to pay me an additional $5k for the damages incurred during the roof leak incident. Even though I could have gotten by without an attorney’s help initially, it’s been worth every penny to have someone who knows how to navigate these types of disputes on my side throughout this process.
Go to Court
It was a Saturday night, and my family and I were watching a movie. All of the sudden, we heard this loud boom! A tree had fallen on our roof. It was raining outside, so we knew it wouldn’t be long before water made its way in to our home. We called State Farm right away, but they said they couldn’t do anything because the tree was on top of the roof instead of against it. We even contacted an independent adjuster who advised us to make a claim with them. State Farm still denied our claim for damages. Our contractor came over, took a look at the damage, and told us that State Farm denied my roof claim would have to cover repairs because there wasn’t enough space between the tree and our house to allow water flow through. He said that if he could show evidence of standing water during rainstorms or months where heavy rains happened then they would have no choice but to pay up. Luckily enough, we found some photos from when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston last year that showed how much rainwater flooded through our garage door into our home (since we’re below street level). The next day when I sent these pictures over as evidence, State Farm finally agreed to repair the damage caused by their negligence.
