What To Do If Insurance Denies Your Claim
When an insurance company denies your claim, what should you do? Should you just accept the insurance claim denial, or should you fight it? Often times, when dealing with an insurance company to whom you have paid premiums for years, it can feel very frustrating when their denial leaves you feeling like you have few options. At Cornerstone Law Firm, we help clients every single day who have had an insurance claim denied to determine whether they should challenge the claim in court or otherwise.
There are two major things you should consider if your insurance claim has been denied:
1. What does your policy actually say?
When you signed up for an insurance policy, you received the full written policy (sometimes several days later in the mail). This policy can be thirty, forty, or even a hundred pages long, and will explain what the insurance company will do in a variety of circumstances and how the claim is to be administered. Does the policy cover what happened in your situation? Is there a provision that they referenced in their denial letter that governs your claim? If so, that provision is the starting point of your inquiry—but it is not the ending point.
2. What does the law of your State say?
What does the law of your state say about insurance contracts? States have laws and regulations governing insurance contracts. Here in Pennsylvania, the rules include a provision that says that insurance contracts should be construed against the insurance company if there is any question in how the contract should be properly interpreted. The law also says that if a contract for insurance violates the insured’s reasonable understanding of what they were purchasing insurance for, that provision is unenforceable. Thus, even if your insurance policy says that the denial of coverage is proper, that might not be the case.
Speak to an experienced insurance attorney.
If you have received a denial of an insurance claim, you should speak to an experienced attorney to ask them what to do in your situation. The attorneys at the Cornerstone Law Firm have substantial experience dealing with insurance company denials. We help clients to look through their policy to find the provisions at issue, look at the correspondence from the insurance company, and we can help you understand the law governing insurance contracts.
If you have been denied on an insurance claim for your car, house, or anything you may have insured, please call us at 610-926-7875 so that we can help you figure out your next steps.
