What to do about the wrongful denial of hail damage by my insurance company?
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What to do about the wrongful denial of hail damage by my insurance company?
There was a storm 2 years ago, and I had hail damage to my roof and cedar siding. The siding was
covered by insurance and re-stained 5 times. Roof was denied. After researching denial letter, the shingle they said I had, they said it was tested to withstand 1.25 inch hail by Haag Engineering. Called shingle manufacture, they said particular shingle I have was not tested. Contacted Insurance Co. Erie and told them. They didn’t seem to care but said they would look at the claim again. Original denial letter also stated that :there was an accelerated amount of granule loss
Asked on May 22, 2017 under Insurance Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
An insurance policy is a contract. If you believe, as you evidently do, that under the specific terms of your policy and the facts of the damage, that the insurer should have paid, then you could sue them for "breach of contract"--for violating their contractual obligations. But such a suit, even without an attorney, can be costly: you'd need to hire roofing or shingle manufacturing experts or private insurance adjusters to testify for you, and such people have to be paid whether you win or lose (and you generally cannot recover the cost of witnesses from the insurer). Unless you are talking many thousands of dollars of uncompensated loss, it is likely not worthwhile taking legal action.
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