3 Steps to Take If Your Insurance Claim Was Denied

There is nothing more frustrating than submitting an insurance claim only to have it denied by the insurer. There are several reasons that an insurance claim can be denied, but the most important thing to remember is that you have rights. Under certain circumstances, you may have the option to appeal the decision.

At The Law Offices of John D. Ameen, P.A., we provide dedicated representation for insurance claims including denial appeals. Our lawyers have over 50 years of collective legal experience to help you get the insurance settlement you deserve. If your claim was denied, contact our office at 800-555-4011 to schedule a free consultation.

Follow these three steps if your insurance claim was denied:

Your Rights If the Florida Funeral Home Was Negligent

When a loved one dies, it can be unbearably difficult. Depending on your loved one’s wishes, you may need to make funeral arrangements and wrap up their affairs. During this time you may assume that the funeral home you rely on is always handling your loved one with the utmost care. Unfortunately, this may not be the case.

At The Law Offices of John D. Ameen, P.A., we represent individuals who have suffered harm because of a funeral home’s negligence. We understand that this may be a challenging time for you and your family. We are here to help. Contact our office at 800-555-4011 to schedule a free consultation and discuss your legal options.

Who Can Sue a Florida Funeral Home?

If a Florida funeral home was negligent in the handling of your loved one or engaged in some form of unethical or unlawful activity, you might be entitled to compensation. Depending on the circumstances of the case, you may be able to sue for damages.

Getting Your Car Fixed After a Florida Auto Accident

If you are involved in a car accident, you may wonder who is responsible for your damages. While many people worry about whether they will receive compensation for their injuries, they overlook the fact that they may need vehicle repairs. In some instances, the car may be totaled and they will need to seek money to replace the vehicle. Determining who should pay for these damages can be challenging without the help of a qualified attorney.

At the Law Offices of John D. Ameen, P.A., our lawyers can help you understand your rights after an auto accident. We fight for individuals who have suffered losses in car crashes throughout Florida. Whether you were seriously injured or your vehicle needs to be repaired, we can help. Contact our office today at 800-555-4011 to schedule a free consultation.

Obtaining Compensation After a Car Accident

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a high-speed collision for there to be a lot of damage done to a vehicle. Today’s cars are designed with lightweight materials that help them absorb the impact during a crash. While they are generally safer than the tanks of previous decades, they are also more prone to getting crushed and are expensive to fix.

Why You Need an Attorney If You Are Injured at a Store

You may assume that a store owner is automatically liable if you are injured while on their property. Unfortunately, holding a store owner legally responsible for your injuries can be challenging. Not all injuries result in liability. To determine whether you have a valid claim for damages, you need to speak with a qualified attorney.

At the Law Offices of John D. Ameen, P.A., we represent individuals who have been injured due to another person’s negligence or wrongdoing. Our lawyers fight hard to ensure that our clients receive the maximum compensation allowed by law. If you have been injured at a store, contact our office at 800-555-4011 for a free case evaluation.

Holding a Store Owner Accountable for Your Injuries

In general, a store owner is required to keep their property in a reasonably safe condition. They also have a duty to warn customers of a dangerous condition that they knew or should have known about. In some cases, proving a store owner’s liability can be relatively straightforward, but in others, it may be difficult to prove.

In one of our latest blogs, we discussed some of the telltale signs of bad faith insurance in Florida and what to do if you believe that your insurance company is dragging out the claims process, undervalued your claim, or denied your claim altogether. If you are ever in this situation, it’s important to remember that you have legal rights.

Below, the team at Law Offices of John D. Ameen, P.A. breaks down how we will fight on your behalf to gather evidence and help you win a bad faith insurance claim or lawsuit.

Elements of a Bad Faith Insurance Claim

First, it’s important to understand that there are a few different elements of bad faith insurance, as well as two different categories. These are:

Distracted driving is one of the most common causes of serious auto accidents. In reality, all of these instances are entirely preventable when drivers take the proper precautions behind the wheel. To put the entirety of this problem into perspective, here are some relevant distracted driving statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

• Every day, about eight people lose their lives in distracted driving accidents.
• There were 2,841 people killed in distracted driving-related auto accidents in 2018. More than 400,000 more were injured.
• About 25% of drivers involved in 2018 fatal distracted driving crashes were young adults aged 20-29.

Knowing the most common types of driving distractions can help you, as a driver, stay safe behind the wheel. Here’s what you need to know.

Common Types of Driving Distractions

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies three types of distracted driving:

When you think of post-traumatic stress disorder, your mind probably flashes to images of soldiers returning home from war. But, did you know that car accidents are actually a leading cause of PTSD in the U.S.?

What Is PTSD and What Causes It?

PTSD is a psychological disorder that develops after a person witnesses or experiences a traumatic event, such as a serious car crash, assault, abuse, wartime/conflict, or a natural disaster. Essentially, the disorder heightens one’s fight-or-flight response and makes them feel anxious, stressed, or frightened in even safe situations. Other symptoms may include:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Hypervigilance
• Panic attacks
• Flashbacks
• Nightmares
• Intrusive thoughts

According to a study done by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), nearly 40% of car accident survivors develop symptoms of PTSD. While it’s not fully understood why some people develop this disorder and not others, several factors play a role in who exactly is at risk, including:

When you’re injured in an accident, such as a car crash or slip and fall, you may assume that the person who caused the accident would be the one on the hook for paying your medical expenses, lost wages, and other related damages.

However, that’s not necessarily the case in the Sunshine State. Unlike many other states, which follow a fault-based insurance rule that we described above, Florida is considered a no-fault insurance state. This term is a common source of confusion for many car accident victims, so we discuss more about what no-fault insurance means below.

What Is No-Fault Insurance?

No-fault insurance, also referred to as a personal injury protection (PIP) policy, is a type of auto insurance coverage that is designed to compensate the insured individual should they be injured in a car accident, regardless of who was at fault. In Florida, PIP policies generally cover the following:

Between 2003 and 2015, U.S. military service members were issued Combat Arms earplugs. Originally designed by Aearo Technologies, which was bought by Minnesota-based company 3M in 2008, the Combat Arms earplugs were designed to protect service members from both lower- and high-level noises known to cause hearing damage. These earplugs were standard issue and were provided to hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of active-duty service members.

Unfortunately, the Combat Arms earplugs contained a serious flaw that rendered them essentially useless.

The initial design made it so that the earplugs were too small for standard Army carrying cases, and they also posed certain fit issues with some service members’ helmets. Because of this, the earplugs were modified and made shorter. While this solved the surface-level problems, it led to a serious side effect: the earplugs no longer effectively filtered out or blocked high-level noises, meaning service members were exposed to incredibly harmful, highly damaging noises. As a result, countless men and women suffered permanent, irreversible hearing damage, deafness, and tinnitus, a condition characterized by a persistent ringing or “buzzing” in the ears.

Florida sits in close proximity to the ocean and vulnerability to storms and hurricanes. Homes in this area face unique threats and are at an increased risk of sustaining internal and external damages.

For these reasons, homeowner’s insurance and other property-related insurance coverages are the most vital forms of protection you can have as a property owner in this state. Below, we discuss some of the most common types of property damage insurance claims in Florida. We also cover the potential problems you may face when filing.

Exterior Wind Damage

Storms and hurricanes can lead to heavy winds, falling trees, or blowing objects. These weather events commonly results in roof damage. This damage to your roof may be more difficult to spot and locate. It can remain undetected until more serious signs of interior damage begin to manifest. It’s also a type of damage that typically requires complete replacement of the roof structure.

Hurricane season around the Atlantic typically peaks each year in August and September, and this year has proven no different. Hurricane Sally and Hurricane Laura have left hundreds of thousands of people across Florida and the surrounding states with property damage and no power.

Ensuring your home is properly prepared for hurricane season is essential to reduce potential damage to your belongings and help you and your family stay safe. Here are some steps you can take to protect your home before a natural disaster hits.

Take an Inventory of your Property

Start by surveying your home and tallying your possessions before the start of hurricane season each year. If you claim damage to a specific part of your home, you want to ensure that you have the proper evidence to show the insurance company what type of physical damage was caused; that way, you can be properly reimbursed for everything you should be.

Making an insurance claim should be easy. After all, insurance exists for a reason, right? You expect insurance coverage to make up for your medical bills, lost wages, and other damages that you couldn’t have afforded to pay otherwise.

Unfortunately, many insurance companies will lowball settlements and offer claimants less than what they deserve. Remember, insurance companies are businesses above all else and will offer you the least possible amount that the company believes you will accept.

If you believe that you were offered a lower settlement than you deserve, do not take it! You have options moving forward, with the help of an experienced personal injury attorney.

After disaster strikes your home or business in the form of a fire, flood, vandalism, or theft, the worst news may come when you receive notice that the insurance company has denied your property damage claim. You believe you did everything right and you have insurance for a reason, so what went wrong?

Unfortunately, many property damage claims are denied each year because of technicalities, sneaky insurance tactics, and even bad faith insurance practices. If your claim was denied or even if you plan to file one in the future, you should arm yourself with the information needed to ensure your insurance company does not treat you unfairly.

Common Reasons for Property Claim Denials

When the insurance company denies your claim, they must give you a valid reason why. In general, there are a few common reasons for property damage claim denials:

If not, we may be able to help. We represent homeowners and business owners who are being unfairly treated by their insurance companies. We can handle your claim— while protecting your legal rights— from the date of your loss to the final resolution of your claim. Or, we can take over the handling of your claim that has been underpaid or denied.

We will communicate with your insurance company on your behalf, evaluate and document your damages, compile the necessary documents, submit a detailed claim packet to your insurance company, and negotiate a settlement of your claim. If your insurance company wrongly denies any portion of your claim— or if settlement negotiations break down— we will file suit on your behalf to resolve your claim. We handle most residential claims on a contingency fee basis— we don’t charge a fee or costs unless we get results. Call us to schedule a free consultation and property inspection.

Fort Lauderdale Insurance Claims Attorneys

Combined, our attorneys have over fifty (50) years’ experience in handling property damage insurance disputes. Two of our attorneys began their legal career representing insurance companies in various capacities. Now, since 2005, we dedicate our practice to policy holders— we represent only homeowners and business owners, never insurance companies. One of our property damage attorneys, prior to becoming a lawyer, was a Florida State Certified General Contractor with 22 years’ experience in construction. During that period, he specialized in the repair of residential, commercial, and industrial properties that were damaged by windstorm, fire, water, vandalism, and other casualties.