Texas Fire and Flood Claims Must be Paid on Time In Texas, homeowner insurance claims are supposed to be taken care by the insurance companies on time. Of course, if they suspect arson, rightly or wrongly, they can extend these deadlines. The burden of proof for the amount of the claim is on the homeowner, however, and many times there is a delay caused by unmet request for receipts, an inventory or forms from the homeowner. The Prompt Payment of Claims Statute provided in Texas law
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/in.toc.htm gives the insurance company certain deadlines to acknowledge, investigate, and accept or reject a claim. First they must acknowledge receipt of the insurance claim, then they must start an investigation of the claim usually within 15 days.
When you turn in the information they request, like receipts and forms, then the insurance company has 15 days to accept of reject the claim. Once the claims validity and amount are established, the insurance company has 60 days to pay. Once they notify you that they will pay, they have 5 days in order to do so.
If your insurance provider is violating Texas insurance laws by delaying settlement unfairly, or if your insurance company is refusing to pay benefits that were promised under your policy or represented to you by their agent, then you should seek assistance from a qualified public insurance adjuster.
Public insurance Adjusters are experts on property loss estimations, work only for the insured, to document, negotiate and settle the claim at the highest amount called for in the policy. The check for underpriced or left out of the companies offer, and for this reason and other reasons, your settlement is often higher when a public adjuster is used.
Dwayne Hall is a licensed public adjuster in Texas, a veteran of Katrina, an accountant with an extensive knowledge of both construction and homeowners insurance policies. He has responded to and assisted with hundreds of fire and water damage claims, and is both a certified mold remediator and radon measurement provider. For more information, contact Dwayne at
or call (903) 733-4664.
