On June 6, a massive hailstorm swept through the Dallas-Fort Worth area causing damage to thousands of homes and businesses. In the weeks since the storm, property owners have been working diligently to get repairs underway, but it won’t be a quick process. The Insurance Council of Texas reported the hail damaged an estimated 20,000 properties.
While some areas only received small sized hail, golf-ball and baseball-sized hail rocked through Dallas, Tarrant, and Denton Counties. According to Boston-based catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co., the June 6 hailstorm caused nearly $1 billion in insured damages. Damage was most significant for roofs, windows, skylights, solar panels, HVAC systems, satellite dishes, and any other equipment located on the roof.
For most property owners, hail damage is a covered loss under their insurance policies; however, that doesn’t mean insurance companies will be quick to pay out. Natural disasters like the June 6 hailstorm present huge losses for insurance companies. These companies often do everything in their power to minimize paying out on claims. There are various bad faith tactics insurance companies use to minimize or deny claims, but the most common tactics include:
- Blaming covered damage on inadequate maintenance to the property
- Blaming covered damage on regular wear and tear to the property
- Wrongly claiming some damage is not covered under the policy when in fact it is
- Failing to provide an estimate of damages to the insured
- Failing to engage appropriate experts to evaluate damage
- Causing unnecessary delays
Don’t Face The Insurance Company Alone
If you own commercial property, you can’t afford to go back and forth with the insurance company only to get a fraction of what repairs will cost. To get full compensation under your policy, you need to speak with an experienced insurance attorney who can hold the insurance company responsible.
At Raizner Slania LLP, our lawyers have earned nationwide recognition for helping policyholders fight for their rightful claims against insurance companies that operate in bad faith. Please contact us today for a free initial consultation. We handle all bad faith insurance cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you will not pay attorney’s fees unless we help you recover on your claim.