In 2020, Hurricane Zeta ravaged through multiple southern states, leaving a ton of wreckage in its wake. The hurricane hit Georgia as a tropical storm, calming down slightly from its initial descent as a Category 2 hurricane. However, the storm still caused massive damage to the state, with widespread power outages reaching over 600,000 homes and businesses in multiple towns and surrounding areas. The storm reached up to 110 mile per hour winds, tearing through Atlanta between 4 and 7 AM.

Homeowners Insurance & Storm Damage

If your property is damaged by a hurricane, depending on how severe the damage is, you may want to submit an insurance claim to get coverage for repairs to your home. Before you do this, though, you will want to ensure your insurance plan covers damage caused by a hurricane or tropical storm.

If you have homeowners insurance, you may have coverage for these kinds of natural disasters included in your plan. Some policies may directly cover damage caused by a hurricane or tropical storm, while others may require you to add this type of coverage as an addition to your overall insurance plan. In other cases, some providers may only cover damage to specific parts of your home like your roof or house siding. For other damaged areas, such as flooding to your home’s interior, you may need a separate type of coverage.

Because of the frequency of tropical storms in Georgia and how badly they damage thousands of homes, insurance providers often set a high deductible for coverage before they pay out policyholders. Be sure to familiarize yourself with your insurance plan’s deductible expectations before filing a claim following a storm.

Claim Denial Following a Storm

After you’ve reviewed your insurance policy coverage and determined that you want to file a claim, you expect your insurance company to take it seriously and respond to you in a reasonable amount of time.

Though this is often our expectation, sometimes, this is not what happens. Many times, insurance providers will do everything they can to avoid paying out for a claim, or ignore a claim altogether. They can take advantage of the general public’s lack of knowledge for what is expected of insurance companies managing claims. 

Denying you appropriate coverage following a claim, refusing to give you details following a claim denial, or ignoring your claim submission and following communications altogether are considered bad faith claims and can be punished by law. If you are experiencing this type of hardship with your insurance provider, be sure to contact an insurance lawyer immediately. 

Insurance attorneys are equipped with the knowledge and tools to help you navigate bad faith claims the right way. For difficult claims, they can help you file with your insurance provider and work with you throughout the process.

The law offices of Michael M. Raheb, P.A., have expert Georgia insurance lawyers available that understand what is expected of insurance agencies. Work with an insurance lawyer to ensure you get the coverage you need following a storm, and to proceed effectively following a bad faith claim situation.