Homeowners insurance claims

The following claims support information is offered to help owners navigate the process. This article will be updated  as more information comes to light.

As both homeowners and the Association are required to insure the property, and it is inevitable that there will debate with some insurers over what is covered and what is not, who is obligated to pay different parts of your loss claim, and/or who should adjust the claim first. There will also be cases where claims will be paid by one insurer who will then seek partial or full reimbursement from another insurer. As if a week without power during a deep freeze and making repairs caused by broken pipes were not demanding enough, filing and recovering insurance proceeds after a major weather event can have its own challenges.

At this point, the situation is fluid with homeowners insurance adjusters taking many different positions in the handling of their claims. In a catastrophic event where insurers need to process thousands of claim, the process are often more lax. That is a double edged sword. On one hand they may grant some coverages that they previously might not have (i.e., not sweating the small stuff), the customer service may be significantly reduced.

See all articles about the "2021 freeze" here: <click here>.

Owner's Policy Claims

It's important to get your insurer involved early and to communicate (or confirm) in writing as much as possible. In most cases, it is the homeowners policy that will be paying the majority of the claim. The largest home insurance companies in the industry are, in rank order, State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, Travelers, American Family, Nationwide, Chubb, and Auto-Owners. Each will approach coverage in their own way and there will likely be different processes and different interpretations of the community documents, the policies in place, and what is covered and by whom. These interpretations are not always fair, expedient, or consistent and they may change in time. You may also need to argue your case to multiple insurers get full coverage (e.g., home, auto, HOA). It's best to ask any insurer for the documents and specific citations in your policy or the HOA documents upon which they are basing their decisions. 

Documents often requested by homeowner's insurers. Your insurer may want copies of the association documents. These are available here: <click here>. This link was updated today. It is generally best to provide only what they ask for.

It might be helpful to others to post what homeowners insurance company you are working with and what you are experiencing/learning about their approach in processing these freeze claims. So far, sharing of information has been very helpful.

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