When it comes to claiming a loss under an occurrence insurance policy it is, as an initial matter, the burden of the insured to show that a covered loss has occurred within an applicable policy period. What this may mean to some policy holders who have recently switched insurance companies is that a decision looms to as to which insurer to file the claim. Many homeowners mistakenly believe that their policy covers them only as long as they are paying premiums. With occurrence policies, this is not so. This can be troublesome on certain kinds of losses such as sinkholes or water damage, where the damage is progressive as opposed to a fire, which occurs on a date certain.
For example, a homeowner buys a house on January 1st and is insured with Insurance Company A until July 1st when the homeowner decides to switch to Insurance Company B. If the homeowners policy with Company A was an occurrence policy, damage the homeowner noticed in May but for which he did not decide to file a claim until August would still be covered under Company A’s policy.
It is important that the homeowner is aware of the types of policies they hold and have held in order to avail themselves of the protections and coverages those policies provide. It is not uncommon for the insurance companies to dispute coverage based upon timing of the loss. The homeowner must be able to assert when the damage was first noticed. After the homeowner is able to make this determination, the question then becomes which insurance policy was in effect at the time of the loss. Provided the insured hasn’t run afoul of any time limitations contained within the contract for making a claim, once the claim is made, the burden then shifts to the insurance company to assert that some exclusion within the policy applies before they may deny the claim.
If you have a situation requiring legal representation for an insurance claim, contact Corless Zinober FL personal injury lawyers at 866-969-2889
