House fire do I have a case?Insurance won't pay.?

Question

My wife and I have 4 children. My home burned down due to a dryer fire 1.5 years ago. The insurance company said they dispatched someone and they were on their way with a check for $10,000 while the fire was still smoldering. What a relief...not so fast, They called back 20 minutes later and claimed we were cancled due to a check that bounced a couple weeks earlier. So I called back and spoke to a representitive and he said if I made a payment right away we would be covered and caught up til the end of the month. I paid by credit card over the phone. What a relief right? not so fast. The company turned around and said we were covered all month long except on the day of the fire. Now they are sending me bills and it is affecting my credit because I haven't paid them since. We feel like we have been raped. We had a $100,000. policy and now they claim my phone was disconnected and this is why they did not notify us that our policy was cancled. They even sent out ann adjuster to take pics.

Answer 1

They needed to notify you "IN WRITING" if they were canceling your policy. Usually they send you a cancellation notice telling you what day your policy will be canceled and the amount of payment that needs to be paid by that date.
If your check bounced a couple of weeks earlier you should have been notified and you should have rectified the problem by then...I could not imagine an insurance company waiting a few weeks to tell you that your check was not good, let alone your bank notifying you.
Tell then you want a copy of the cancellation letter that was sent to you so you can compare dates. You also will need proof of your payments made by credit card which the credit card co can provide. Bring all your proof and documents to an attorney who can further advise you what can and should be done.
Good Luck, insurance companies suck. My brother's home burned down recently and he went thru hell even with no payment issues.

Answer 2

You need to take all documents to an attorney and see what your legal rights are. Sadly if there was a cancellation on the police or it lapsed, and you were not covered at the time of the fire, you may not have any recourse as the insurance companys cover themselves as best they can to avoid paying out on claims. Get to the attorney as fast as you can, and see what your rights may or may not be. Either way, good luck.

Answer 3

I use to work for a big insuranse company and some co's do try anything to get out of a big payment , get a lawyer for this one and tell the insurers they will have to pay the bill Take them to court as soon as possible the courts nearly always find in favour of the individual against the ins co. so do tell them you mean business,, unless of course you wernt covered on the day of the fire so check.

Answer 4

You need an attorney to help you with this. You will be going around in circles FOREVER if you try to take on an insurance company by yourself!