How to submit an E&O claim?

Question

We have learned that our realtor failed to provide some very important information about the house we bought two years ago, and now this situation is causing us to sell the house for less than we would have been able to otherwise. We have to sell because we're moving out of the area.

I know she has E&O coverage. What would be the process to submit a claim? Would we have to hire an attorney, or can we deal directly with her insurance company?

Thanks for the responses. I was trying to be brief, but here's the story: The sellers presented us with a septic inspection stating the septic was functioning and our agent told us we didn't need to bother getting our own inspection. She also did not read the county environmental file on the house, although she pulled the file and gave it to us. Not being septic experts, we were confused, called and asked her to explain what we were reading. She assured us that since the sellers' report said it was functioning, so there was no need to worry. We found out recently, during routing pumping, that the system was a home-made job, no leach field. The county told me this should have been obvious from the lack of permits on file, and asked "Who was your agent?!!" Furthermore, our lot will not support a conventional system and requires a $30,000 alternative treatment system. So any buyer of course will expect that credit, which will leave us short for our loan payoff.

Answer 1

Try the insurance company first (cheaper..good luck!) If that doesn't work, threaten to sue. Then the insurance company might 'come around' to your way of thinking. What did they not disclose? If it's something that can be proven easily, then you have a case. If it's something, say like 'termite damage' they might not care.

Answer 2

You will most assuredly need to contact the management of the real estate firm for which the agent works to initiate such a process. You are not clear about what sort of issue the realtor failed to disclose, so there's no way to tell if you have a legitimate claim or not.

No E&O company is going to fork over any substantial amount of money without an investigation, and possibly litigation on your part.