What to Do When a Home Insurance Claim is Denied

In a perfect world, every homeowners insurance claim would be approved and addressed. However, there are many reasons why a claim would not be accepted. A few of the most common reasons are that the insurance company has determined the damage was intentional, the damage was caused by pests or animals that are not covered, or the claim appears to be fraudulent. Here’s what you should do if you believe your home insurance claim was denied and shouldn’t have been: 

Review Your Policy

When your insurance company denies your claim, they may be less than transparent as to why they made that decision. Read through your insurance policy, looking for reasons that your claim would be denied as well as reasons it shouldn’t be. Keep both of these in mind as you look for exclusionary language, technicalities or clauses you may have missed when putting in the initial claim.

Contact Your Provider 

Part of the investigation process may be contacting your insurance provider. If you need clarification as to why your claim was denied, call your insurance company. This will allow you to make changes and resubmit the claim if the error was on your end. If you find out that the insurance company made the error and is refusing to fix it, further action may be needed.

Gather Supporting Evidence

Take photos and video that proves the damage you’re reporting, and organize the evidence. This will make your life easier if you need to share the evidence multiple times. If you feel your insurance company is intentionally stalling or refusing your claim, add any written exchanges into your evidence folder. The more proof you have that you made your insurance company aware that you needed help and they refused to provide it, the stronger your case will be. 

Report Your Insurance Company

If your insurance company is dragging out your claim, denying your claim, or is too difficult to reach, there are a few courses of action you can take. Start with your state’s department of insurance. They’re in charge of governing insurance companies that do business in the state. They should be able to help you get your claim approved, even if it means submitting it one more time. If that doesn’t work out, consider contacting an attorney and taking legal action.

When your home insurance claim is denied, you may feel hopeless. However, there are steps you can take to make sure a valid claim is filed and approved. If you need a new home insurance policy, the Nsure app can help you compare policies from 50 top-rated insurers in less than 5 minutes. Be sure with Nsure.