4 Main Reasons the Insurance Company Will Deny Your Claim for Fire Damage and Restoration in Torrance

You hear it all the time. People tell you that their claim for fire damage and restoration in Torrance has been denied. Now you’re facing those costs, and you’re worried that the insurance you’ve been paying into won’t cover any of the costs. The cost of a fire is already high, and an insurance company denying your claim can make you worry about your financial future.

There are many reasons for an insurance company to deny a claim. Four of them are extremely common, but with some, you can prove that you do deserve the payout.

Suspicion of Fraud or Arson

In some cases, your insurance company may think that the fire damage has been self inflicted. There may be a suspicion of arson or fraud, and this leads to a hold on the claim for your fire damage and restoration in Torrance.

If you set the fire yourself, not only is there an issue with the insurance company payout, but you will also face criminal charges. The insurance company usually isn’t going to decide this by themselves, and you’ll know that there is an arson investigation because of the firefighters and the specialist team that comes in.

As for fraud, this could be that your insurance company believes that you’ve overestimated the costs of the damage. This is why it’s so important to get an appraiser in before you start any work — and make sure it’s someone your insurance company recommends and works with.

Not Enough Documentation

If you are claiming for fire damage and restoration in Torrance, you need to have receipts and proof of the cost of the damage. Without comprehensive documentation, your insurance company can deny this. Of course, receipts of the items that you owned aren’t always available, and they may have burned up in the fire. Make sure you take photos of the damage to prove that it happened.

You will also need to get quotes from qualified restoration companies. They’ll be able to also provide receipts for any work done to get the money back from your insurance company.

You Didn’t Have Full Coverage

It’s essential tounderstand the terms of your policy. A lot of homeowners find out the hard way that they had inadequate coverage for the damage. Maybe it’s that only certain types of fires are covered, or it could be that you didn’t pay for the fire damage like you thought you did.

If your policy doesn’t cover something, then the insurance company isn’t going to pay out. On top of that, there may be a co-pay that you need to cover first, or there may be caps on the amount that you can claim.

You Failed to Mitigate After the Fire

The damage of the fire can be much worse due to other issues down the line. If you didn’t cover the broken windows and it starts raining, you end up with water damage to also deal with. Your insurance company could deny your claim because you failed to mitigate that damage.

Even before a fire, you can find your claim is denied. This could be due to negligence on your part, which started the fire. In this case, you will need to pay for the fire damage and restoration in Torrance yourself and make sure you mitigate future damages to make sure you’re covered if it happens again.