Anyone ever fight their home owners insurance over lightning damage?

[imthemedic]

Last week a tree about 20 feet from the house was struck by lightning. It cut a 3" trench to the house conducting through the gutter downspout. It fried most of my electronics in the house and my HVAC. Insurance is refusing to pay for my HVAC after ther inspector styated it the unit was not operational due to normal wear and tear. I had a local contractor come out and look at it and they stated that the damage found was consistent with a power surge and combined with the evidence of a lighting strike on the property they believe it was the cause.

I have photo and video evidence of the lighting strike. My camera security system caught the strike right before the system was fried. I assume their position is that there is no evidence that the system was operational before the strike. It is an older system, but it was fully functional with out issue.

Anyone been through this before?

[BigSexyPhoenix]

This is a normal tactic for an insurance company. Send out an adjuster, tell you it’s not covered, and then hope you go away. Stay on them

[dmc575]

This is a normal tactic for an insurance company. Send out an adjuster, tell you it’s not covered, and then hope you go away. Stay on them

yes and make sure to present them with everything you possibly can from that local contractor (im assuming he is licensed and bonded of course) and what it stated. You are gonna have to fight them. Sometimes the contractors are worth their weight in gold when dealing with some of the cheaper insurance cos. Id contact any other service professionals you will be using for the repairs to get them to put on paper their estimates. Maybe even tell them whats going on since they may know the right thing to say to the insurance companies, cuz those jokers will take advantage of your words to their benefit. Dont ever say "its not that bad" or anything like that because they will pounce.

If the adjuster can get away with paying you 99 cents when they fully and rightfully owe you $1 theyll fight all they can to pay those 99 cents instead of the $1. im pretty sure they get bonuses bases on their adjustments, at least thats what a few told me years ago.

If you can get a recommendation, or hopefully that contractor you used has experience dealing with your specific insurance company, they can make the process a ton easier. Good luck. you are in for a battle and depending on how crappy a company they are (recent roofer told me allstate was BAD in my city, not sure nationally but he said they have the rep for not paying out and being difficult the whole way through) they will fight you, and generally try and discourage you.

[yetti462]

That is BS. We've had record rainfall here in southern IN. A guy from church had a sump pump in his basement fail and he had substantial water damage. Insurance Co is back peddling saying he didn't have sump pump insurance. Another person I know had their basement flood due to a city storm drain clog. IC said no flood insurance we can't help you. They were told they didn't need flood insurance b/c they didn't live in a flood plain.

[idratherbeefishin]

So your AC unit was the only thing affected by the lightning strike? Normally if lightning strikes the house it will end up up frying any component that is plugged into an electrical outlet my father-in-law went through the same thing TV ,computer ,refrigerator, stove. Were all affected took 1 month before insurance company paid out. Good luck

[Half Baked]

You can also file a complaint with the Kentucky Department of Insurance http://insurance.ky.gov/ppc/default.aspx
Sometime it will light a fire under somebodies Butt!!!

[ameneddie]

Any chance you have had your unit serviced by anyone this year. If so use that to prove that it was operational.

[yetti462]

So your AC unit was the only thing affected by the lightning strike? Normally if lightning strikes the house it will end up up frying any component that is plugged into an electrical outlet my father-in-law went through the same thing TV ,computer ,refrigerator, stove. Were all affected took 1 month before insurance company paid out. Good luck

He stated it fried most of the electronics in house.

[imthemedic]

Yes it fried all of my TVs, security system, camera system, everything in the gamming room, treadmill and various other items. Basically most everything that was plugged in except for my major appliances. They haven't ruled on the other items or at least they haven't told me anything yet. So far they are sticking to their guns on the HVAC. I am still in limbo on the other items.

[Bamaman]

Any way it goes, expect the insurance company to "depreciate" your HVAC system for the expected life span of the unit.

We recently had a burglary, and a couple of antique muskets 150+ years old were stolen. My insurance company "depreciated" them, even though the worth of those rifles was in the lifespan and their history.

After the final offer of the insurance company, I'd try to go over the adjuster's head. If they pay little or nothing, withdraw the claim and go ahead and obtain homeowners' insurance elsewhere.

[Fx20 2011]

From the details you provided it would be hard to believe they covered the other inside items and excluded a working HVAC unit. There is not enough financial loss for them to make this up. The real loss dollars come from liability claims are really big property claims. Lightning is a covered peril.

So now you have an issue where the adjuster made an observation and came to the conclusion lightning did not damage the HVAC unit but that it had failed prior due to wear, tear or maintenance.

My suggestion is to get your agent involved with the claim and see if this helps, after all you pay the commission to the agents make him/her work.

I would ask for the adjuster report so you can view the information that was provided on the HVAC unit. You have taken some good first steps by brining in outside HVAC contractor to give an opinon on the HVAC unit.

In my experience insurance companies really don't nickel and dime people on losses. I don't know of any standard company that gives a bonus to an adjuster if they trim loss dollars, that's just silly. Most people don't understand that an insurance policy is a contract and does not cover everything under the sun. This is not your case but normally when you hear Insurance Company A didn't pay this t is because it was not covered under the contract. Another example back up of sewage and water is not covered unless your policy/contract provides the coverage. Usually this coverage is an additional cost or provided by special endorsement that adds several additional coverages.

Now getting back to your claim. Give your agent a call and let him/her do their job and fight this. If you don't have an agent and went direct then ask to talk to the claims manager and start the process.

My guess is there is a reason the adjuster said or thought the HVAC was not working prior to the claim. Find out the reason then support your statement it was operational including your now expert witness the contractor who has experience with lighting damage to HVAC units.

[MMyles]

Get an estimate from your HVAC contractor to fix your HVAC and have him list exactly what he found as the cause. Contact your adjuster and let them know your HVAC contractor says the system was damaged by lightening and that you will be including the estimate to repair the HVAC along with the other estimates from your damaged property.

If the adjuster continues to claim the HVAC was not damaged by the lightening, I would let them know that if they continue to deny the HVAC after your contractor professional says it was damaged by lightening, you will have no choice but to consult with your attorney to review your entire policy along with any additional available coverage's you may be entitled to.

Once you give them a copy of what your contractor found, you should be fine. I do know that when a attorney gets involved, the claims move along pretty quick for the insured. In this case though, it seems senseless to get a attorney involved on such a perceived small claim.

Good luck!

M

[Fx20 2011]

On the guns my question is what type of a policy/contract did you have on them. If you used an agent the first thing he should have went over was how the claim would be adjusted. I suggest if you read your policy/contract the insurance company settled the claim properly based on the contract in place.

If your agent told you not to worry they are covered in full then file an E&O claim with that agency.

My point is this the terms of a claim settlement is in the contract. Most people don't ask how a claim is paid and most agent don't bother to review the contract. Insurance companies are not always correct but in most cases I find the insured does not understand what they bought and the agents takes the money and doesn't explain.

[TRCM]

Any way it goes, expect the insurance company to "depreciate" your HVAC system for the expected life span of the unit.

We recently had a burglary, and a couple of antique muskets 150+ years old were stolen. My insurance company "depreciated" them, even though the worth of those rifles was in the lifespan and their history.

After the final offer of the insurance company, I'd try to go over the adjuster's head. If they pay little or nothing, withdraw the claim and go ahead and obtain homeowners' insurance elsewhere.

By that logic, The Mona Lisa wouldn't be worth a penny................

[imthemedic]

My policy has Zero depriciation. They pay full replacement cost.

[Booster]

I recommend you insist on speaking/meeting with agent's boss. If no satisfaction, tell him and ACT ON IT, that you will be filing a complaint to the State insurance commissioner. If they give you a runaround, a local consumer affairs reporter at TV station may intervene for you. Let the insurance co. know of your plans to expose them. Be a bulldog to them.

[g352nv]

From the details you provided it would be hard to believe they covered the other inside items and excluded a working HVAC unit. There is not enough financial loss for them to make this up. The real loss dollars come from liability claims are really big property claims. Lightning is a covered peril.

So now you have an issue where the adjuster made an observation and came to the conclusion lightning did not damage the HVAC unit but that it had failed prior due to wear, tear or maintenance.

My suggestion is to get your agent involved with the claim and see if this helps, after all you pay the commission to the agents make him/her work.

I would ask for the adjuster report so you can view the information that was provided on the HVAC unit. You have taken some good first steps by brining in outside HVAC contractor to give an opinon on the HVAC unit.

In my experience insurance companies really don't nickel and dime people on losses. I don't know of any standard company that gives a bonus to an adjuster if they trim loss dollars, that's just silly. Most people don't understand that an insurance policy is a contract and does not cover everything under the sun. This is not your case but normally when you hear Insurance Company A didn't pay this t is because it was not covered under the contract. Another example back up of sewage and water is not covered unless your policy/contract provides the coverage. Usually this coverage is an additional cost or provided by special endorsement that adds several additional coverages.

Now getting back to your claim. Give your agent a call and let him/her do their job and fight this. If you don't have an agent and went direct then ask to talk to the claims manager and start the process.

My guess is there is a reason the adjuster said or thought the HVAC was not working prior to the claim. Find out the reason then support your statement it was operational including your now expert witness the contractor who has experience with lighting damage to HVAC units.

When my kitchen flooded from a broken pipe they tried to nickle and dime me on everything. They wanted to just cut me a check and not the contractor. So I had the contractor go over the estimate and he got 2k more out of them.
Cant stand insurance companies.

[Fx20 2011]

All that I got out of your statement is that you commited fraud.

What were the details? What did your agent do to help settle the claim. An agent will make between 15 and 25percent of your premium. So did you make the agent earn that money?

[dmc575]

Get an estimate from your HVAC contractor to fix your HVAC and have him list exactly what he found as the cause. Contact your adjuster and let them know your HVAC contractor says the system was damaged by lightening and that you will be including the estimate to repair the HVAC along with the other estimates from your damaged property.

If the adjuster continues to claim the HVAC was not damaged by the lightening, I would let them know that if they continue to deny the HVAC after your contractor professional says it was damaged by lightening, you will have no choice but to consult with your attorney to review your entire policy along with any additional available coverage's you may be entitled to.

Once you give them a copy of what your contractor found, you should be fine. I do know that when a attorney gets involved, the claims move along pretty quick for the insured. In this case though, it seems senseless to get a attorney involved on such a perceived small claim.

Good luck!

M

nailed it.

they will nickel and dime you. You ever heard the saying "Vegas wasnt built on winners" before? Well neither were insurance companies. They are in the business of not paying. wether that comes from insureing a good client, or paying 99 cents (or less) on the dollar when claims are filed. Why do you think you have to fight car insurance companies to use OEM parts? Nickel and diming is the business. Unless you got some huge commercial, umbrella or business policy where your overall business greatly overshadows the claim...expect to be nickel and dimed.

[dmc575]

All that I got out of your statement is that you commited fraud.

What were the details? What did your agent do to help settle the claim. An agent will make between 15 and 25percent of your premium. So did you make the agent earn that money?

Agents arent the be all end all you keep making them seem to be. Mines an idiot. My bill dropped 2 months ago for no reason and I had to call to see why. Some coverages mysteriously "dropped off on his system." about 6 months ago they mailed me a check for a few hundred dollars. About 5 months ago they emailed me to send it back or it would be sent to collections...not even a damn call. Some agents care, not all and I would say the majority dont since they are usually only in the business a few years.