The Real Cost of a Claim…We Don’t Make This Stuff Up

A claim may arise out of fire caused by spontaneous combustion, or a wind gust knocks over a solid brick wall (that has occurred), or a commercial box truck used for delivery hits a van from the rear. All three of these are potential examples of valid claims an insurance company will pay on behalf of the insured policyholder.

The responsibility of the insurance company in evaluating and paying a property loss is to put you, the insured, in the same position you were, prior to the damage or loss of property. The responsibility of the Insurance Company from a liability standpoint is to defend you, the insured, and pay damages if you are legally liable.

What costs are typically part of the claim settling process?  When loss or damage occurs, you contact your Insurance Agent, who will advise you of basic first steps to take to mitigate any further loss or damage and then will submit the claim to your Insurance Company. Following this, your Insurance Company will call you and ask for details regarding what happened. At this point, you have reported the loss or damage, and now the journey of settling your claim begins.

For either type of claim (property or liability), any of the following may be required in the claim settling process:

– The claim adjuster to authorize claim payments
– Report costs, i.e. police reports for theft of property, building inspection reports, etc.
– Investigative reports. These might include private investigation costs if fraud or arson is suspected.
– Professional engineering reports. These reports help determine the cause of the loss and the actual amount of damages incurred.
– Professional appraisals to estimate the cost to repair and/or replace the damaged property.
– Last, but not least, you may need legal counsel. The cost of legal counsel is included in your coverage. The cost to defend and protect you can easily begin in the $200.00 to $300.00 per hour range. Even the defense of a small claim could be $2,500.00 or more.
The value you receive from your insurance policy is significant. The premiums we all pay for insurance coverage are the price we pay for protection and peace of mind, which is substantially more than most people realize when they pay their insurance premiums.

* All content noted above is subject to policy limits, terms, and conditions.