THE CONSUMER LAW OFFICE (CLO) FAQ

Generally, the entire physical structure of your house is covered under your homeowners’ policy. The physical structure of your house is protected against any damage unless specifically excluded. Damage from rising waters and street flooding is generally not covered (unless you have a separate Flood Policy). What most people do not know is that personal property is also covered, as well as additional living expenses when having to move out of your home due to the damage incurred. There are many other valuable and often misunderstood provisions in your policy that provide additional coverage when you incur damage to your property.

The Property Damage Attorneys at CLO are deeply knowledgeable in how to interpret the language in insurance policies and fights to make sure that the insurance company fulfills their obligations under the insurance policy.

In the State of Florida most if not all homeowner’s insurance policies will have some sort of deducible. The deductible is a dollar amount that you are responsible to pay before the insurance company will pay you anything on your claim. By example, if your home suffers roof damage in the amount of $25,000.00 and your policy has a $3,000.00 deductible; then your insurance carrier should pay you $22,000.00.

When you are ready to begin the process, contact our offices and we will dispatch an experienced CLO Claims Specialist or public adjuster to come out and assess the damages. He or she will inform you at the time of the assessment about your claim and the next steps.

The Property Damage Attorneys and adjusters at CLO will prepare its own independent estimate and submit that estimate to your insurance company. Your insurance company will also send someone out to do their own estimate of the loss. If the amounts or items on both estimates are not the same, then an attempt will be made to resolve the estimation of the damage without legal action. Most disputes in the insurance context are over the value of the property damage.  Therefore, it is imperative to have a team like CLO advocate and fight for your rights! The insurance companies have experts and attorneys on their side- you should too!

Under Florida law, the insurance carriers must acknowledge and act upon communications with respect to claims within 14 calendar days. They must begin their investigation within 10 working days of receipt of proof of loss statements and they must provide a written statement confirming that the claim is being investigated and must affirm or deny coverage within 30 days after receiving a proof of loss. The claim — or undisputed portion of the claim — must be paid within 90 days.

In a perfect world, your insurance company will make a fair offer. But often, this simply isn’t the case. If you feel you are being low-balled or mistreated by your insurance company, the CLO Property Damage Attorneys will negotiate for a more favorable settlement, and when necessary, file a lawsuit against the insurance company on your behalf to pressure the insurance company to increase the settlement amount that you are owed.

If your claim is denied or even partially denied, we will investigate the reason for denial. If our experienced and aggressive Property Damage Attorneys discover that the insurance company wrongfully denied or underpaid your claim, our attorneys will advocate forcibly on your behalf and litigate as necessary to see that you get the benefits you are entitled to.

If your claim is underpaid, the CLO team will continue to fight on your behalf in an effort to get you paid what the insurance company really owes you.

YES!!! An attorney has all the legal means and tools at his or her disposal to achieve the maximum result, including engaging in litigation and going to trial, as necessary. Public adjusters are fully aware of what they can and cannot do, and when they are unable to achieve what they know to be a full and fair resolution, they will refer the insurance claim to us.