Homeowners with property damage from water, mold, roof leaks, wind,  or hurricanes, do not have to automatically accept the Florida insurance company’s payment offer. Many insurance policies in Florida have a provision which allows property owners to resolve their claim via a panel of insurance appraisers.

Steven Venook, who works as an appraiser for property owners, said “Florida homeowners should know their rights.”

“Citizens living in Florida need to be aware there is recourse”, he said.  “There is a way for them to get a fair hearing about the true value of their insurance loss.”

Venook, said “folks should check their insurance policies”. Many insurance policies may have an appraisal provisions that allow the insured to hire an appraiser, like Venook, owner of Florida Insurance Claim Appraiser.

The insurance company also gets to appoint their own appraiser. Then the two appraisers select an umpire to resolve disputes.

Appraisers sometimes get paid a flat fee for their services, or, more commonly, an hourly rate. Venook, added that it makes most sense to hire an insurance appraiser if the gap between the insurance company adjuster’s assessment and your public adjuster’s, roofer’s, or general contractor’s assessment is large.

It is not uncommon for insurance companies to offer much less than what policy holders require to properly repair their home, condominium, or building.

According to Value Penguin by LendingTree July 27, 2020 the top four insurance claim complaints, are from the following:

• Unsatisfactory settlement offers
• Claim delays
• Denial of claim
• Adjuster handling

Most common insurance complaints among major insurers

According to the Insurance Information Institute

Homeowners Insurance Claims Frequency*

Homeowners claims related to wind or hail are the most frequent; the costliest are related to fire and lightning.

About one in 20 insured homes has a claim each year.

About one in 40 insured homes has a property damage claim related to wind or hail each year.

About one in 50 insured homes has a property damage claim caused by water damage or freezing each year.

About one in 350 insured homes has a property damage claim related to fire and lightning.

About one in 400 insured homes has a property damage claim due to theft each year.

About one in 900 homeowners policies has a liability claim related to the cost of lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage that the policyholder or family members cause to others.

* Insurance Information Institute calculations, based on ISO®, a Verisk Analytics® business, data for homeowners insurance claims from 2014-2018 (see table above).

According to ValuePenguin by LendingTree July 27, 2020

What frustrates people most about about their insurer? 68% of complaints deal with filing a claim.

We looked at complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to see what customers are saying about the 10 largest home and auto insurers in the country.

Key findings:

• Consumers complain most frequently about how claims are handled. Across all insurers, 68% of all complaints were related to claims handling.
• The single biggest complaint consumers made was about unsatisfactory settlement offers — there were 890 such instances in 2019. The second-most common issue was claim delays, with 834 complaints.
• The most common issues varied by state: 100% of claims in Vermont were about claims, but 79% of complaints in Maryland were related to policy cost and cancellations.
• GEICO customers were most likely to complain about claims (53.6%), while Chubb customers were the least (38.6%).
• Nationwide had the most favorable Complaint Index rating for auto insurance, while Chubb did best for home insurance.”

Source: ValuePenguin by LendingTree July 27,2020