Articles Posted in Hail Claims

An Abilene insurance lawyer is probably keeping up with hail storm events in Abilene. The Insurance Council of Texas released a small article in July that has some general information in it about some hail storms in Abilene.

Abilene is by many standards a small town. In a small town such as Abilene it is often times hard for a person to find an attorney who focuses in an area of law such as insurance law. There is a lot of need for attorneys handling family law cases as well as cases related to criminal matters, probate, debt collection, bankruptcy, energy, and property. But niche areas such as insurance law are not as common an issue. Plus, when there is an issue, often times the person who a claim may be involved in a claim may be a friend or good acquaintance such as a local insurance agent or a local insurance adjuster whom local attorneys have business and social contacts relationships. Often times it is best to seek the advice of an out of town attorney to help an individual or small business person to peruse a claim that is being denied for some reason or another.

Here is a little of what the article tells us.

Fort Worth insurance lawyers who handle hail damage claims need to be know how courts interpret appraisal clauses in insurance policies. A 2009, Texas Supreme Court case is a must read for helping to understand the appraisal process. The style of the case is, State Farm Lloyds v. Johnson. Here is some of the relevant facts and information to be taken from the case.

A hailstorm moved through Plano, Texas in April of 2003, damaging the roof of Johnson’s home. She filed a claim under her homeowners insurance policy with State Farm Lloyds. State Farm’s inspector concluded that hail had damaged only the ridgeline of her roof, and estimated repair costs at $499.50 (less than the policy’s $1,477 deductible). By contrast, Johnson’s roofing contractor concluded the entire roof needed to be replaced at a cost of more than $13,000.

To settle this difference, Johnson demanded appraisal of the ” amount of loss” under the following provision in her standard-form policy:

Insurance lawyers in the Dallas / Fort Worth area will see lots of hail claims. An article this year from the “Claims Journal” needs to be read by those lawyers to keep informed. The title of the article is, The Emerging Hail Risk: What The Hail Is Going On? Here is what the article tells us.

The number of reported claims involving hail damage to residential and commercial roofing products has increased dramatically over the past few years. Some reports place the increase at almost double historical claim totals.

What is the cause of this significant increase? There is no disputing that in recent years there have been significant hail events in large metropolitan areas. But does this alone account for the near-double increase in claim filings? Plus, in addition to the increase in the number of claims, an abnormally high percentage of these claims are ending up disputed and ultimately in appraisal or litigation. In Texas, hundreds, literally hundreds, of lawsuits are being filed each week in Dallas, Tarrant, Potter, Hidalgo, and other counties involving alleged underpayment of hail related roof damage claims – far, far more than has ever previously been the case.