my home was damaged in Katrina,insurance co said they won't pay because i was renting it out. is this legal

Answer 1

Yes, this is legal. You should have insisted that you policy covered sub-letting.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, it seems like every insurance company is finding any excuse to deny insurance claims from Hurricane Katrina. If you own a home, but rent it out, you should carry a "fire dwelling" policy, which only covers the structure-none of the renter's property. If you were carrying a standard HO-3 homeowners policy, and this is the excuse they are providing for denying the claim, I don't know the legality of it. Every renewal, your company sends out the policy form (it's like a book!), and you may need to read the conditions of the policy, as it may indicate they will not cover a home rented out. Unless they are claiming "material misrepresentation," meaning you fraudulently hid the fact that it's a rental home, then I really don't think they should have denied your claim. I would advise you to #1 read your policy form to make sure it doesn't exclude a rental home, #2 call your insurance adjuster and/or customer service department demanding the payment for loss (and threaten to contact your state insurance commissioner to file a complaint against the company), #3 call your insurance commissioner to file the complaint.

Answer 3

If you had homeowner's insurance and you were renting the house out to somebody else then yes, there is an exclusion for this in the standard homeowner's policy.
You actually had the wrong kind of coverage.
You needed a commercial policy for landlords. If you had bought that coverage, you would have been fine.
It sounds as if you may have not known about this coverage and it is very important that you clearly tell your agent what you are doing with the house when you buy coverage.

You buy homeowner's coverage if you own the house and plan to live in it.

You buy renter's insurance if you don't own the house but are the tenant renting it from a landlord.

You buy a commercial property insurance policy if you own the house and are going to rent it to somebody else.

Because you apparently bought the wrong kind of coverage, you are not going to get insurance money.

You may, however, qualify for some special FEMA monies, however.

Answer 4

It sounds like you were renting your home out to tenants. If that was correct, coverage depends on how the policy was written, as owner or tenant occupied.

Many companies would pay you anyway if the change in exposure didn't do anything to increase the hazard or cause the damage.

If you have a mediation or arbitration clause in your policy, write to your company and tell them you want to arbitrate. Otherwise contact the state insurance commisioner and file a complaint. Or write to a national news source for on the air exposure, which often encourages insurance companies to at least review and reconsider their decision.

Your policy has time restrictions for complaints and arbitrations so do it as soon as you can.

Answer 5

When an insurance company denies coverage for a loss they should send a denial letter with the policy exclusion that applies. If it is excluded in the policy that you are out of luck. It is your responsibility to know the details of your policy. I think you would be surprised to find out what you auto and home owners insurance excludes that you are not aware of. I would start with getting a copy of your policy and if you need further assistance contact the department of insurance in the state that your policy is written. They should be able to help, free of charge

Answer 6

Sorry, but unless you took out special renter's insurance, the company won't pay. Some insurers, like AAA home owners, don't even offer insurance on your home if you rent it. (You wouldn't want AAA anyway since they always try to get out of paying for anything.) Plus, if your tenants didn't take out insurance on the property, you're not insured for the house. Renters sometimes take out insurance on their own personal property, but that doesn't help you.

Typically, insurance companies have fine print stating that your are not covered for rental, just for home owner occupation.

I'm afraid you'll have to rely on George Bush's generosity, and we all know how that goes.

I wish you all the best for your future.

Answer 7

Q-----Where can I get legal help with insurance claims, home repair contracts, licensing, wills and other documents?
A----You may be able to get free legal advice through the American Bar Association. To find a lawyer, contact the American Bar Association. The toll free hotline in Louisiana is (800) 310 - 7029. For more information log onto www.abnet.org.

Answer 8

If you had insurance on your house, then they have to pay you the amount the house was insured for. It does not make any difference if you was renting it, or not. I never heard of an insurance company, who would not pay, just because you was renting it. It still has to pay, even if the house was not rented, and your insurance was up to date..

Answer 9

Probably, home insurance is when you live there. It's an added risk if you are renting it out to someone else and there is typically a seperate policy for that. Good luck.

Answer 10

there is not any such element as having a "lease" in protection stress quarters on base. you could pick to vacate government housing at each time. The "financial employer" supplies not something. DFAS supplies not something for moving off base. the only time he's eligible for pay advances is whilst he's interior of ninety days of a desktops (everlasting replace of Station) with orders. Your BAH won't start up until after base housing has inspected the quarters. you are the only that has to maintain up for the protection deposit and accepted months lease.

Answer 11

Did you have a HOMEOWNERS policy on it, or a DWELLING policy on it? A homeowners policy says it's for owner occupied dwellings. On a dwelling policy, the owner doesn't have to occupy it.

If you LIED and said the house was owner occupied, that's material misrepresentation, and the company not only doesn't pay out, but they cancel the policy.

The Katrina part is irrelevant - it will happen to ANY type of claim.

BTW - "home" means, the place you live. If you were renting it out, it's not your "home", it's your "house". It's also your "business".