Los Angeles Property Damage Lawyer

Joshua W. Glotzer, Esq

Managing Partner

Los Angeles Fire and Flood Lawyers

When you own something valuable, such as a home, car, or business, you probably take the precaution of purchasing insurance to protect your assets. What would you do if your house was severely damaged in a fire but your insurance company refused to pay?

What would you do if your car was totaled in an accident that wasn’t your fault, but your insurance company only agreed to pay you pennies on the dollar for what it was worth? When we purchase an insurance policy we expect the insurance company to keep its promise to pay for any damage that results to the covered property. At Glotzer & Leib, LLP, our California property insurance claim denial attorneys understand that a property insurance claim denial can make a bad situation worse.

If an insurance company has denied your property insurance claim – and you believe that they did so in bad faith – contact our experienced Los Angeles personal injury attorneys today for a free consultation. We will review your insurance policy, investigate your claim, and develop a strategy to force your insurer to reimburse you for the costs they failed to cover.

Legal Protections for California Property Insurance Policy Holders

California offers more legal protections for holders of property insurance policies than any other state in the country. Unfortunately, many Californians are unaware of the legal protections available to them. It is also believed that few insurance adjusters are actually aware of the laws to which they are obligated to abide. California’s Fair Claim Settlement Practices Regulations provides the framework for permissible insurance company practices. Legal protections – applicable to both the insured and insurer – provided in the law include:

1. Deadlines for responding to phone calls, emails, and letters;
2. Deadlines to pay or deny a claim;
3. Deadlines for submitting paperwork to prove the loss covered by the policy;
4. The information that must be provided to the insured by the insurance company; and
5. The information that must be provided to the insurance company by the insured.

California law also requires insurance companies, and any of its representatives, to act in good faith concerning any claims made by its insured policyholders. Your insurance company may be acting in bad faith if they breach any of the following behaviors:

• Insurance companies are legally required to be honest, truthful, and transparent when communicating with insured policyholders.
• Insurance companies are prohibited from making low-ball offers.
• Insurance companies must conduct a reasonable, independent investigation into a claim.
• Insurance companies must take all evidence into account when making an offer – this includes evidence provided by the policyholder.
• Insurance companies may not require a policyholder to have property repaired by a specific contractor.
• Insurance companies cannot require a policyholder to provide unreasonable proofs of loss.
• Insurance companies must provide copies of any claim-related document upon the request of the policyholder, including those used to calculate the loss.

These are just a few of the protections for California property insurance policyholders. If you submitted a claim which was subsequently denied or underpaid, and believe your insurance company acted in bad faith, contact an experienced Los Angeles property insurance claim denial attorney today. Your attorney will ensure that your insurance company properly reviewed your claim and adhered to applicable law.

Types of Policies and Claims

Different insurance policies exist to protect different assets. At Glotzer & Leib, LLP, our attorneys help clients whose insurance policies include:

• Homeowners insurance,
• Car insurance,
• Motorcycle insurance,
• Boat insurance, and
• Business insurance.

Policies are often specific to certain types of damage. For example, a general homeowners policy may not cover damage caused by a natural disaster. We help clients who have specialized insurance policies to cover damage resulting from:

• Home theft,
• Vandalism,
• Flood and water damage,
• Fire damage,
• Wind damage, and
• Natural disaster damage.

What Will a Property Insurance Claim Denial Attorney Do?

Insurance companies do not make money by paying out on each and every claim that is submitted. Rather, they will try to deny claims on technicalities – saying that the particular property or damage is not covered by the specific policy – or pay substantially less than is warranted. Our attorneys have decades of combined experience going up against these insurance companies and have developed an understanding of how these outfits operate. Using this experience and knowledge, our skilled attorneys are able to predict the tactics used by insurers to deny or minimize payouts. This allows us to stay one step ahead of our opponent(s).

When we take your case we will do a few things to help you recover the insurance payout you deserve. First, we will review and analyze your insurance policy to search for loopholes and provisions that will be helpful in our case. Second, we will request the documents created and used by the insurance company throughout their independent investigation of your claim. Third, we will determine whether or not their determination to deny or underpay benefits was proper based on the information they had. Finally, we will use the weaknesses of their process to highlight the reasons why your claim needs to be paid in full.

Experienced Los Angeles Property Insurance Claim Denial Attorneys

If your claim for property insurance payouts was denied, and you believe your insurance company acted in bad faith, you should contact an attorney to review your claim. Our experienced Los Angeles property insurance claim denial attorneys have decades of combined experience assisting aggrieved insurance policyholders and understand the facts and policy provisions that can be incredibly useful in forcing insurance companies to make good on their promise(s) to protect an insured’s assets.

Property damage can be incredibly stressful – even removing families from their home for extended periods of time – and a denial of insurance benefits can make a tough situation even worse. Our attorneys fight to help wrongly denied insurance policyholders recover the reimbursements they need to cover the costs associated with property damage. Contact us today to learn about how we may be able to help you fight your insurance company.