You deserve to be compensated appropriately if your property was damaged by hurricane Ian having paid your insurance premiums on time each month. However, you might need help to get that compensation from your insurer due to many claims being undervalued, unreasonably delayed, or unfairly denied. Seeing your property destroyed by a hurricane is devastating both emotionally and financially. The last thing you need at this difficult time is a fight to get the compensation you deserve.
Proudly representing home and business owners in Fort Myers, our hurricane Ian lawyers can help you recover financial damages in a new claim or dispute a denied claim. We’ll review your situation during a free consultation and explain your legal options for making a property damage claim. Meanwhile, this guide answers commonly asked questions about recovering from hurricane storm damage, different types of policy coverage, and what we can do to help.
When Disaster Strikes, We Work Hard for Your Recovery
With the start of hurricane season looming and the uncertainty around Florida’s property insurance market, home, and business owners need to ensure they have the appropriate coverage from their insurance company and take the time to understand what is written in the small print of their policies.
Should the worst happen, and you need to make a claim, our hurricane Ian damage attorneys can do a lot to help you recover compensation. We will walk you through your policy or policies and determine which losses you can recover. To do this, our team supports you by providing the following services:
- Organize a thorough inspection of your property and the damage by a professional
- Gather evidence such as photos, video, and other documentation to prove your damages
- List all losses to be included in your insurance claim
- Prepare an accurate financial loss report
- Manage all communications with your insurance company
- Prepare all the necessary paperwork for you
- Develop your claim by preparing the required paperwork
- Filing your claim within specified time limits
- Appeal unfairly denied or delayed claims
- Negotiate with your insurer for a fair settlement
- Prepare your case with trial-ready attention to detail
- Threaten to sue, if necessary
- Resolve your case with a judge, if necessary
Let Us Protect Your Hurricane Damage Claim
The main reason to have a lawyer from our firm on your team is that we will help prevent your insurer from unfairly denying, delaying, or undervaluing your claim. To do this, our team can work with professionals to evaluate and list your losses in detail so that we can defend the inventory and evaluation.
For instance, if your insurer tries to deny some of your losses by claiming they existed before the hurricane, your lawyer will show that the professional determined the damage that happened from the storm. For example, suppose the insurer claims that flooding caused damage, which isn’t covered under your policy. In that case, we could use evidence provided by the professional to prove that another part of the hurricane caused it.
Other Ways We Can Provide Support
If you let one of our attorneys handle your insurance claim, we will scrutinize your policy for all the details that may affect your payout. Further, we ensure your policy and hurricane deductible comply with the law. If your policy doesn’t cover flood damage, but you have a separate policy for flood damage, your lawyer can pursue compensation under that policy instead.
Additionally, we can help you meet the deadline for a potential Fort Myers Hurricane Ian lawsuit, which is three years per Florida law. It’s essential to meet this deadline to protect your ability to sue if it becomes necessary to do so.
You May Be Able to Claim for Hurricane Damage Against More Than One Policy
Under a standard policy, your homeowners’ insurance may cover some hurricane damage under the specific deductible. Meaning you must pay an agreed amount before your insurance coverage kicks in. Your policy may refer to this as hurricane or windstorm protection. However, many policies do not provide this coverage. Therefore, alternatively, you might have purchased separate policies for flood, windstorm, or hurricane damage.
If you have hurricane damage coverage, you can receive compensation for the repairs to your home and other property-related losses you’ve experienced. In addition, you may also get compensated for living expenses and disastrous flood damage, provided you purchased the appropriate insurance addon.
Depending on your policy or policies, you may have coverage for the following:
- The repair of your roof, windows, guttering, sidings, shingles, and doors
- Repairing outdoor structures such as sheds, garages, fences, or swimming pools
- Removing storm debris from your home
- Repairing your home’s foundational damage
- Fixing water damage
- Flood damage from storm surges or overflowing water
- Hotel stay or relocation expenses
- Landscaping damage
Disputes can arise when insurance carriers disagree about who is liable. Meanwhile, you are left to pick up the pieces with little or no support, guidance, or compensation. Rather than battling it out alone with your insurer, our hurricane Ian attorneys will help you to cut through the confusion when an emergency strikes.
Along with protecting your rights, we help you understand the extent of your insurance coverage, which policy (or policies) apply to your situation, and how much you have to pay in deductibles.
Your Homeowners Insurance May Cover Some Boat Damage Due to a Hurricane
Due to the hurricane, you may have boat damage. If so, your homeowner’s insurance may provide limited coverage, but it only applies to specific causes of damage. However, if you have boat insurance, it will likely cover boat damage related to the following (provided you purchased the policy at least 30 days before the storm):
- Wind and flood damage to your boat
- Reimbursement for some towing costs if you move your boat before a storm
- Some expenses related to strapping down your boat or relaunching it after the storm
- Repairing or replacing your damaged boat if you carry physical damage coverages (an optional policy addon)
- Damage caused by beaching
- Flooding caused by sinking
Additionally, if your boat is located at a dock on your property, your homeowner’s policy may pay out for storm damage to your dock. But, again, our lawyers can review your insurance policies and determine what coverage you have.
Does Car Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage in Florida?
Some car insurance policies cover hurricane damage. Generally, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance does not cover damage to a claimant’s vehicle, including any hurricane damage. However, you may have comprehensive insurance that does cover hurricane damage to your car. Our lawyers can help you determine if you have this insurance and help you to build a compensation claim.
About Our Hurricane Ian Lawyers in Fort Myers
For many years, our lawyers have served the people of Florida through the most challenging periods, including hurricane seasons. Now, we’re here to support Floridians after they suffered through Hurricane Ian. To give you an idea of how we can help you with your storm damage claim, here is some feedback from clients we have helped in similar situations:
- “Hurricane Michael caused significant damage to our home. When the insurance company only wanted to pay out a fraction of what was needed to repair our home, we contacted GED Lawyers. Scott and Beliana took great care of us throughout the process of making our case against the insurance company. In the end, we recovered our policy limits through negotiation, but I’m confident we would have won our case in court if we had not settled.” – C. Williams.
- “Very Professional and caring group. Michelle Kitchen was very kind and helpful through all the processes of my case. She even kept me up to date on current goings even after a Hurricane destroyed Panama City where the offices were located. Thanks again, Michelle.” – Josh Pfeiffer
Over the years, we’ve developed excellent relationships with many professionals in Florida, including medical experts, contractors, and others. This benefits our clients as we can call on our network of professionals to provide invaluable testimony in support of our client’s cases. We’ve also developed genuine relationships with our clients, who appreciate how we’ve provided them with such great results in their cases.
Our clients also benefit from our ability to serve them in another language, such as Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Creole, Greek, Turkish, or Portuguese. We’d be happy to assist you in any of these languages.
Call GED Lawyers for Help from Our Fort Myers Hurricane Ian Damage Lawyers
With decades of experience to draw upon, the attorneys at GED Lawyers know how to help home and business owners in Florida with their Hurricane Ian insurance claims. We want to help you, too, even if it’s already been denied by your insurance company. We can tell you more during a free consultation.
Contact GED Lawyers today.
