Houston Insurance Claims Lawyer Urges Property Owners to Review Insurance ... - Houston Chronicle

Brad T. Wyly of the Wyly Law Firm, P.C., says a strong understanding of one's insurance policy will be important if an insurance company delays or denies a claim for storm-related property damage.

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) June 02, 2012

Texas and the Gulf Coast residents should review their insurance policies in preparation for the June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane, said Houston first-party insurance claims lawyer Brad T. Wyly.

Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its prediction of nine to 15 tropical storms this year, with as many as four to eight of those storms becoming hurricanes, according to the Houston Chronicle.

"One storm, even a tropical storm, can mean ruin," said Wyly, owner of Wyly Law Firm, P.C., a Houston personal injury and first-party insurance claims law firm.

"Home and business owners need to be sure they understand what they have covered by their insurance policies," Wyly said.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. The peak period for hurricane activity is from August through October. An average season produces 11 named storms, six of which become hurricanes and two among them that become major hurricanes.

The 2012 season's first storm, Tropical Storm Alberto, formed off the coast of South Carolina May 19 and dissipated over the Atlantic a few days later without causing any harm.

The Wyly Law Firm represented many clients in the Harris County, Galveston and Beaumont areas after Hurricane Ike, one of the deadliest and costliest storms in U.S. history, after it hit the Texas coast in September 2008. Many claims took years to be settled.

"Anytime an insurance company pays a claim, that's money subtracted from their bottom line," Wyly said. "Insurance firms are not anxious to pay hurricane damage claims, regardless of what your policy says. They often try to pay less than the full value of the claim or reject it entirely if they can. They'll also try to make the collection process difficult and lengthy."

Wyly explained that flood insurance is purchased separately from a homeowner's policy, and that property owners without flood insurance will not be compensated for flood damage. Additionally, he said, a common bad-faith insurance practice is to label a variety of damage as "flood damage" and refuse payments.

The Houston attorney said the Wyly Law Firm reviews existing policies to help home and business owners better understand the policies they have and determine the extent that wind, water, mold, mud and other damages are covered.

The firm can also explain how to file a residential property claim or business property claim in Texas and what evidence should be gathered to demonstrate damages.

"We can help a property owner understand their insurance policy before a natural disaster strikes," Wyly said. "And if the insurance company is still reluctant to provide a proper settlement for a first-party claim, we're ready to help out then, too.

"Texas law has protections and remedies for the policyholder in insurance disputes, and we are ready to put that law to work for our clients."

About Wyly Law Firm, P.C.

The Wyly Law Firm, P.C., is a Houston injury and insurance law firm that represents homeowner's and businesses in disputes with their insurance companies. The firm also represents personal injury victims, including those injured in car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle or pedestrian accidents, throughout Houston and surrounding communities, including Harris County, Baytown, Pasadena, Galveston, Beaumont, Bellaire, Cloverleaf, Spring Valley, Missouri City, Aldine and Jersey City.

Attorney Brad T. Wyly, the firm's owner, is a skilled negotiator and lawyer. Wyly has extensive experience in personal injury cases, including claims involving complex accidents, catastrophic injuries and wrongful deaths. He has been named a Rising Star in Law & Politics magazine. To contact Wyly Law Firm, P.C., call (713) 574-7034 or use the firm's online form. The firm's office is located at 4101 Washington Ave., Houston, TX, 77007.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebhouston-insurance-lawyer/hurricane-damage-claims/prweb9568910.htm

Insurers brace for storms, both real and financial - Tbo.com

TAMPA --

The wind and rain beating against the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay conference hall seemed particularly appropriate Friday. After all, it was the first day of hurricane season, and the hotel was packed with insurance industry representatives and elected officials tackling Florida's property insurance crisis.

The weather also prompted State Rep. Dean Cannon, a Winter Park Republican, to remind the group of Tallahassee's Plan B the past half-dozen years:

"Pray we don't have a hurricane," he said.

Plan A remains a work in progress. The mission of Friday's session was to gather recommendations on how to wean off some of the 1.5 million policyholders from state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp.

After several years of no hurricanes hitting the state, Citizens is in its best financial shape ever. But the insurer's huge exposure — an estimated $504billion — to cover major storm losses has state officials and Citizens executives alike seeking solutions, which prompted Friday's gathering in Tampa.

Citizens was created as an insurance company of last resort but now covers more Florida residents than any other insurer. It has a legislative mandate to "de-populate" — reduce the number of policyholders — but the path to achieving that is far from clear, proposals from Friday's session indicated.

The insurer has tried to make private insurance more attractive by not offering some types of insurance, such as for carports and screened enclosures. As private insurance companies shy from storm and sinkhole insurance in many areas of the state, though, Citizens has become the only option for many residents.

Attendees offered two big-picture recommendations along with smaller ones such as improving information flow to policyholders to make private-sector alternatives to Citizens more enticing.

State Sen. Mike Fasano repeated last year's to rid both Citizens and private-sector firms of the mandate to provide windstorm insurance.

Instead, Fasano proposes creating a pool to which all who buy insurance would contribute to cover hurricane, tornado and other windstorm damages.

"Managing that pool could become the role of Citizens," said Fasano, who said a similar pool could be created for sinkholes.

The New Port Richey Republican said residents have been forced to turn to Citizens because their private-sector insurer dropped sinkhole coverage or storm insurance in specific geographic areas.

"We cannot ask home owners to de-populate Citizens if they have no other choice," Fasano said.

Officials from private insurance companies, though, said the truth is some Citizens policyholders have to get used to paying more for the coverage they want.

"Look at it this way," said Paresh Patel, chairman and chief executive of Homeowners Choice in Tampa, which has taken on 100,000 Citizens policies. "If you are trying to get people off a ship that represents Citizens — the S.S. Titanic — you have to make worthwhile for another ship to pull up alongside."

One million of the Citizens' policyholders are paying adequate rates, the other half-million are paying "such low rates," Patel said.

Citizens was formed in 2002 from two state insurance associations — including one focused on providing windstorm coverage mostly around Florida's coast — to become the "insurer of last resort" for people unable to purchase property insurance from private sector insurance firms.

Barbecues, Raising Your Home Insurance Premium - PR Web (press release)

Evesham, Worcestershire (PRWEB UK) 2 June 2012

So, the home insurance appears to have risen in cost for no reason over the last few years? Well, the idiots who can't conduct a simple BBQ without burning down a house, shed or themselves are partially to blame for this increase.

BBQBarbecues, a large online retailer of UK barbecues has been extremely keen to promote the safety aspects of barbecues when selling a product.

With this news in light, the guys at BBQBarbecues have been talking and put forward some plans to roll out introductory BBQ courses for those beginner chefs and barbecue enthusiasts. They hope this will significantly cut down the amount of barbecue-related accidents in the local area.

The general population tend not to be aware of the dangers involved when using BBQ's, which when thought about is quite strange. There is potentially a large risk for type of barbecue, even with coal, there are naked flames and these can quite easily become uncontrollable if left unattended.

However, the largest risk probably lies with the gas barbecue due to the fact there is gas and fire situated quite close together. Everyone, even those who manage to blow up houses MUST be aware of the dangers that gas and fire pose if they aren't regulated properly. Scarily, based on statistics collected by home insurance companies, people are either completely unaware or just don't care and think 'it's a harmless barbecue'.

Lee Taylor, General Manager at BBQBarbecues looked annoyed when commenting on the news he was given. "I can't believe that people can cause that much damage from something that takes such little common sense. You don't have to be a genius to barbecue safely – you don't even need GCSE's, just a bit of basic knowledge. £617 million pounds worth of damage from barbecues is a completely unacceptable figure and steps ought to be taken to reduce this number considerably."

It has been reported that the biggest culprits for barbecue accidents are in fact those in the East Midlands, followed closely by the Northwest and Wales. The South boasts the lowest incident rates, not that it's anything to boast about, really.

James Cook, from the Marketing team at BBQBarbecues predicted the summer ahead... "With Euro 2012, the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics, this summer offers a lot of events perfect for a get together BBQ. No doubt people will be getting drunk and getting burnt, but what can you do about it? Make people pass a test to get a BBQ license? Make people buy portable barbecues and enforce rules for people to only have barbecues in secluded fields? None of these are likely to be implemented and sadly, there's no cure for idiocy.

BBQBarbecues currently operates on the new, rebranded and ever-expanding Online Home Retail Network which currently encompasses around 50 websites which sell everything from cheap bathroom taps and shower pumps to heated towel radiators and leaf blowers. Online Home Retail Limited first started out as Plumbworld Ltd back in 1999 and since then it has been bought by the Grafton Group PLC in 2006 and received a major rebrand in 2012. The business now employs 60 people in its purpose built warehouse/offices and has a total turnover nearing £25 million per year.

Registering a Motor Home Conversion With the DVLA - MarketWatch (press release)

LONDON, June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Comfort Insurance has recently been looking into the possibilities of converting a van into a motor home, that is to say, taking a normal, everyday van and turning it into a mobile home. In order to carry out such a process, prospective motor home owners must seek approval from the DVLA.

Before the vehicle is classed as a motor home, it must be registered with all the correct documentation by the DVLA. Ultimately, by converting a standalone van to a motor home, a lot of money can be saved on Motor Home Insurance.

Comfort Insurance is a market leading Motor Home Insurance specialist with a history of providing the highest customer service and fantastic quotes. Peter Cue, Managing Director of Comfort Insurance, has been explaining: "Many people choose to buy a van, say an everyday Transit, in order to convert it to a motor home. To do so a lot of work needs to be carried out, either by themselves or an independent conversion company. The DVLA recommend that conversions will need to meet the internal criteria required for a motor home, however they do allow for greater flexibility when it comes to the external appearance of the vehicle."

Mr Cue went on to add: "We can see why people choose to convert normal vans as it can be an enjoyable project whilst also having the high possibility of saving money on insurance."

When applying to register your vehicle as a motor home, it's important to send the DVLA photos of your vehicle before and after its conversion. Only once the vehicle has been approved and registered will you be eligible for a motor home insurance quote.

To find out more, or to request a quote for your motor home, please visit the Comfort Insurance website. Alternatively you can contact a member of the Comfort team in order to discuss further options and request extra information about a motor home conversion.

SOURCE Comfort Insurance

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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The Smartest Homeowner's Insurance Move: A $100000 Deductible! - Forbes

Did you know you can shave hundreds of dollars off your annual homeowner's insurance bill by increasing your deductible? We don't just mean going from $500 to $1,000. Think big. $2,500. Already have a $2,500 deductible? Then think bigger. $5,000. $10,000. Or really big. Like $100,000.

"We have clients with deductibles of $100,000 fairly routinely on $5 million homes," says Mary Boyd, senior vice president and chief operating officer for ACE Private Risk Services. Some ACE clients with multiple homes and a "significant" net worth have deductibles in the millions of dollars, she says. What do they know that you don't?

When you choose a deductible, you're picking a number you're willing to spend out of pocket if you suffer a loss. It should certainly cover what you think of as run-of-the-mill outlays (when calling the insurer would be more of a hassle than writing a check to the repairman). But if you're comfortable with laying out even more at the time of a loss, over time you can really save money on premiums.

Choosing a low deductible is "a characteristic mistake," says Jack M. Guttentag, a professor emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who runs MortgageProfessor.com. "What you want is coverage for the risks that you can't pay for yourself," he says. (A pine tree bisects your living room; a major electrical fire takes out your gourmet kitchen). Pick the number you're willing to spend out of pocket based on your resources–how much money you have coming in in income and how much money you have in the bank.

How much might you save with a bigger deductible? On a house insured for $1 million with a $2,500 deductible, a homeowner could save $1,000 a year by going to a $10,000 deductible at ACE (the premium and savings will vary depending on the house's location and other factors). Since the homes ACE insures typically suffer a loss about once every 20 years, this is a very good bet, says Boyd.

Ted Mitchell, a senior public relations specialist with MetLife Auto & Home says MetLife has seen a trend toward consumers choosing higher deductibles in recent years. While a typical homeowner's insurance policy deductible is $500 or $1,000, MetLife offers flat dollar deductibles of up to $10,000 (except in Texas which has percentage deductibles). But you don't have to go to the max for the savings to kick in. In one example, on a coastal Virginia house insured by MetLife for $1 million with a $1,000 deductible, a homeowner could save $300 a year by going to a $2,500 deductible or $600 a year by going to a $5,000 deductible.

To help minimize the chance (and severity) of a loss and your out-of-pocket tab for a high deductible, Boyd says homeowners should install the usual burglar and fire alarms but also consider installing more high-tech safety measures such as automatic leak detectors, battery backup systems for sump pumps, and lightning protection systems. You get additional credits on your premium for these efforts.

Your agent might use the savings opportunity to sell you other insurance, and that can make sense and still put you ahead of where you were before making the deductible changes. What if you have expensive jewelry? The ACE homeowner's policy covers up to $10,000 in jewelry with a maximum of $5,000 for a single item—subject to your deductible. That means if you chose a $10,000 deductible and lost a bracelet and earrings worth $10,000, there would be no reimbursement. So you might want to consider insuring jewelry (and fine arts or other collectibles) under a valuables policy as an add-on to your homeowner's policy. With a valuable policy, no deductible applies in the event of a loss.

Kat Von D May Have Started Her House Fire: State Farm Lawsuit - Reuters

By Edward Tan, JD at FindLaw.com

Thu May 31, 2012 9:08pm EDT

Kat Von D is being sued by State Farm Insurance to recover money it paid out for a fire that burned down the "LA Ink" star's home in 2010. The lawsuit seeks $909,199.

Von D (real name Katherine von Drachenberg) lost most of her belongings when her Hollywood Hills home went ablaze, E! Online reports. Her pet cat, Valentine, also died in the fire. She later tweeted regarding the incident, "In order to gain everything, you must lose everything...R.I.P. My little Valentine."

Fortunately, Von D was insured by State Farm at the time. They paid for her damages. So why are they flip-flopping now?

Apparently, new information was uncovered that suggests the fire might've accidentally been started by Von D herself, TMZ reports. The reality television tattoo artist allegedly left burning candles in her home that eventually caused the inferno, according to the lawsuit.

Now State Farm wants its money back because it claims Von D should've been the one to foot the bill.

While home insurance policies can vary from person to person and company to company, damage from negligent or accidental acts can sometimes be covered. This isn't always the case though. And coverage for such situations usually carry higher premiums.

Typically, only intentional acts of destruction aren't covered under any policy. And in case you didn't know already, this is called insurance fraud. It's illegal and can potentially land you in jail and/or saddle you with fines.

Kat Von D hasn't commented on State Farm's fire lawsuit, yet. The TLC star made headlines in 2010 after she parted ways with ex-boyfriend Jesse James (Sandra Bullock's former husband).

Related Resources:

• Kat Von D Sued by Insurance Company For Burning Her Own House Down (LAist)
• Steelers Coach Kirby Wilson Badly Burned in House Fire (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
• Sandra Bullock / Jesse James Divorce Finalized (FindLaw's Celebrity Justice)
• MA Mom Slashed Kids' Throats, Set Home on Fire (FindLaw Blotter)

Avoid home insurance issues with flood coverage - WTVR

Posted on: 6:08 am, June 1, 2012, by Jerrita Patterson, updated on: 06:24am, June 1, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -Virginians know the power of a hurricane.  Last year Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc here in the Commonwealth.  And with hurricane season officially underway this is the time to check your insurance policy.

Insurance gaps could leave renters and homeowners shelling out thousands of dollars in damages, following a natural disaster.

AAA said most standard homeowners policies cover hurricane damage, but they typically do not cover flooding or wind damage.  For that homeowners need a separate flood insurance policy.

"I'm more concerned with people who don't have insurance like renters and people like that," said Stephen White with AAA Mid-Atlantic Insurance.  "They don't always think they need that kind of insurance until after the fact and it doesn't necessarily have to be wind storm that causes it.  It could be your neighbor with a fire that could put you out of your apartment.  It's just a word to the wise that if you don't have renters insurance, it's just another reason to get it."

It only takes a few inches of water and your home could require major repairs.  Two inches of water can create $21,000 in damages, according to AAA.

The correct insurance not only protects your personal items, but it will also help with temporary housing and liability protection should you need it.

"You want to have everything documented in your house as much as you can, so when there is a claim the first thing the adjuster is going to ask you is what do you have?" explained White.  "And if you don't have a record of what you have it's really hard when you are under duress at the time, to remember exactly what you had when your property is all gone."

It is also important to remember, there is usually a 30-day waiting period before your flood insurance goes into effect.

For more information on flood insurance, click here.