The roof of your home is as important as its foundation. Having a “roof over your head” is considered a standard for quality of life.
When your entire roof is damaged due to high winds and natural disaster, you want an insurance company that knows the stakes and operates in good faith. If you believe you’ve been the victim of a bad faith insurance decision, due to adjusters who are looking for disclaimers to deny or underpay your claim, read this article, then contact Florin Roebig to speak with an experienced attorney who can help you navigate the claims process in Florida and Texas. It’s a free consultation, so read this article, then call us today.
Why Prepare For Wind Damage In Florida And Texas?
Policyholders in Florida and Texas, when you have homeowners insurance you expect to cover property damage from strong winds, right?
In most cases you’d be correct. In Florida, windstorm damage is attached to every homeowners policy, due to the propensity for hurricanes. It’s water damage that sometimes requires additional flood insurance if you live in an area zoned as high-risk by FEMA.
While homeowners insurance isn’t a legal requirement in the Sunshine State, it is required to get a loan from just about any lender in the country, so most occupied households have insurance coverage that covers damage from a windstorm.
Texas has similar laws. Like Florida, they don’t require homeowners to have an insurance policy on the home, but according to the Texas government, most policies include coverage from high winds and hail.
Even so, not every insurance company operates in good faith, and sometimes that results in wind damage claims that go unpaid or underpaid, even when your entire roof is effected.
Tropical storms happen, whether you’re in Orlando, Florida or Houston, Texas, property owners must understand how Gulf of Mexico weather impacts their home and what their legal options are, should they have a wind damage claim.
Florida Wind Damage Statistics
Preparing for hurricanes is a prominent part of the culture that exists when you live in Florida. You get used to the shortages of water at the grocery store and having to stock up on toilet paper, but no matter how prepared you are, you can’t prepare for your shingles to be torn off your roof and your home exposed to water damage.
In the 2020 hurricane season, which proved to be the most active in recent history, Hurricane Eta hit the Caribbean as a category 4 hurricane leaving devastating wind damage in its wake before reaching Florida’s Northern Gulf coast a much less dangerous hurricane that still caused some property damage.
You can never truly know what to expect from a season where named storms are more than two dozen a season.
Texas Wind Damage Statistics
Warm weather that ranges from arid to humid and Golf Coast waters make for interesting storm weather in Texas. Often wind storms in Houston are associated with hail. In fact, in 2019, Texas had the most loss claims associated with hail than any other state. But even so, Texas isn’t immune to high winds associated with hurricane damage. Texans must only think back a few years, to Hurricane Harvey, to be reminded about the importance of being prepared to experience hurricanes like any other gulf coast state.
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How To File An Insurance Claim For High-Speed Wind Damage
Storm damage comes in a number of forms. The most dominant are water damage and windstorm damage, which can come from a hail storm, thunderstorm, tropical storm or hurricane. Most policies cover wind damage and this is especially true of Texas and Florida, but that doesn’t mean your entire claim will be paid to cover what you need. If you’ve had an underpaid insurance claim, contact us. If you haven’t filed your wind damage claim yet, here are some general steps you must take to do so:
- Check your insurance coverage. Understand your deductibles, policy limits and more to do with your claim.
- Document structural damage. Your roof may not be the only thing that’s damaged, look for structural damage around the roof, walls and foundation of the home.
- Highlight severe damage. Always take lots of pictures of any damage to your home, especially roof damage. Make sure you have multiple pictures of areas of severe damage, covering all available angles.
Insurance companies have insurance adjusters that work for their companies benefit, not yours. In order to ensure you receive the most for your claim, consider other types of property insurance you may need to claim to cover damage to your property as a result of roof damage. When possible, reduce further damage however you can, safely. If serious damage occurs to your roof, it may be necessary to check into a hotel while your claim is processing. If your claim is approved, that hotel stay can be covered.
When To Call Experienced High Winds Lawyers
If you have an insurance claim that’s gone unpaid or underpaid, that includes roof damage from a natural disaster in Florida or Texas, it’s possible your insurer is working in bad faith. For a free case review, call the law firm of Florin|Roebig today.
We’ll look at your homeowner’s insurance policy with trained eyes and discover if there’s anything we can do for you. We are experienced attorneys who have tried wind storm damage cases, and the consultation is entirely free.
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Florin|Roebig: Wind Damage Lawyers Across The U.S.
We aren’t just servicing car accident victims, although we are good at that too, our practice areas at Florin|Roebig are varied and we have attorneys who can take your homeowners insurance case. If you are being hindered by fine print and disclaimers, get your free case evaluation.
If you’re in Florida or Texas, and are struggling to get your homeowners insurance company to make a good faith payment on your insurance policy our attorney will help you. High winds and windstorm damage impacts your quality of life, and we’re here to help, call today!
