The problem with the "Elephant" in the room.
Under Fla. Stat. 627.70131 and 626.9541(1)(i)4. your insurance company has an obligation to pay or deny your claim within 90 days of receiving notice. So what do you do if your insurance company's specialty is delaying claims? What happens when the 90 days expires?
Honestly? Nothing.
Your adjuster can't hold the insurance company's representative upside down and shake them until change falls out of their pocket.
You can hire an attorney, but if they know what they're doing, they'll know that the same statute says violation of the "90 day provision" doesn't form the sole basis of a cause of action. You can't just file a lawsuit because things are slow. Your insurance policy doesn't say they have 90 days to pay and in order to file a lawsuit, the insurance company must have breached the contract.
The remedy for an insurer taking longer than 90 days is technically for them to pay interest on whatever payment they issue.
Many insurance companies sit on claims and wait for day 89 to send you a request for additional information, which legally buys them 30 days, and then they can keep kicking the can down the road every 29 days repeating this indefinitely.
So what are you supposed to do?
Hire someone who puts actual effort into your claim. You need to present your insurance company your damages and provide all reasonable documentation they request. Then, your representation, be it attorney or adjuster needs to document follow ups. Send letters and emails. Keep logs of phone calls.
If you've created a paper trail showing you've given the insurance company everything they need to make a decision, and they've repeatedly blown you off when you're putting in a reasonable effort to adjust and resolve your claim, and you still make it past 90 days, then you can hire an attorney who can file a lawsuit on the 91st day, with an entitlement to attorney's fees and costs that are in addition to your claim, and it will get your claim out of the hands of the department that don't have the time for your claim or are making the conscious decision to ignore it.
If you’ve made a claim for property damage with Universal Property Insurance Company in St Lucie County, give VIP Adjusting a call today at 772-600-4663 for a free claim review.
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