Hurricane Damage Lawyer

What Louisiana Homeowners Need to Know About Hurricane Damage Claims

Hurricanes bring destructive forces like strong winds, heavy rain, storm surge, and flooding. In Louisiana, these storms can devastate homes and businesses within hours, leaving families and property owners struggling to recover.

Understanding what your policy covers is critical to filing a successful claim. Knowing the scope of your coverage helps you better understand what the insurance company is responsible to pay for, and that knowledge should help avoid disputes with your insurance company.

What Does a Hurricane Insurance Policy Cover?

A hurricane insurance policy is designed to protect homeowners and business owners from the devastating impact of storms. Coverage typically addresses both structural and personal property losses caused by high winds, heavy rain, and storm surge. Traditional flooding after hurricanes is usually covered under a separate policy than the wind damage hurricane claim.

While the exact coverage depends on your policy, most  policies  include the following standard coverage:

• Wind and roof damage
• Structural damage, including collapsed roofs, walls, and framing.
• Water and floor damage caused by wind-driven rain and leaks in the roof or through windows and doors.
• Personal property losses. Think of all your possessions that got damaged.
• Damage to garages, porches, and decks
• Broken windows, projectile-related destruction, etc.
• Debris removal

Understanding these coverage details is critical when filing a claim and avoiding disputes with your insurer.

Contact a Louisiana hurricane insurance attorney at Pandit Law today to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Common Types of Hurricane Damage

Hurricanes can cause widespread destruction, leaving behind costly property damage that impacts both homes and businesses. From structural issues to interior losses, the damage often extends beyond what is immediately visible.

Some of the most common types of hurricane damage you may encounter include:

• Roof Damage: High winds can rip shingles off or lift up and even remove entire sections of the roof.
• Water Damage: Heavy rain often leads to water intrusion, ruining flooring, walls, cabinetry, and belongings.
• Structural Damage: Strong winds and debris can weaken or collapse walls, porches, decks, and even move the structure off its foundation.
• Broken Windows and Doors: Strong winds and flying debris can shatter glass and break window frames. It even affects newer dual pane, argon gas-filled windows, causing permanent damage that looks fine to the naked eye.
• Uprooted Trees and Landscaping Damage: Falling trees and heavy debris can damage roofs, fences, and your possessions.
• Interior Property Losses: Furniture, appliances, electronics, and other personal belongings often sustain severe damage.

Dealing with this kind of destruction can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone. A hurricane claim attorney at Pandit Law can guide you through the claims process and advocate for maximum recovery.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Hurricane Damage?

Most homeowners’ policies cover this type of damage, but it depends on whether your policy covers all types of hurricane damage. For instance, most homeowners’ policies do not cover flood damage. These policies usually separate wind and flood damage, so you need a flood insurance policy to cover flooding.

To ensure that you are not underinsured, experts advise that you have Replacement Cost Value coverage and not Actual Cash Value coverage in your policy. RCV means the insurance company owes you the cost of replacing your damaged property with materials of a similar quality and type, and reimburses depreciation after repairs are completed. It is recommended to have RCV whenever possible.

Bad Faith Hurricane Insurance

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there has been more awareness of insurance bad faith after hurricanes. ‘Bad faith’ by an insurance company exists when the company does not properly adjust your claim. Thousands of hurricane insurance lawsuits have been filed by people whose insurance companies either underpaid or wrongfully denied their legitimate claims.

Sometimes the insurance company will review the damage to your property and say it was not entirely caused by the hurricane. Or, they might say that some part of the damage is not covered by your homeowners’ policy.

For instance, storms often cause water damage, which homeowners’ policies cover. However, the insurance company may argue that some of the water damage is caused by flooding, which your policy does not cover.

The insurance company may also delay payments you are owed. This adds terrible stress to you and your family.. Insurance companies know that if they underpay or delay payment long enough, the policyholder may give up and accept less money as they desperately need to begin repairs. Sadly, this happens every year after major storm events.

How to Determine Bad Faith

If your claims adjuster does any of the following, you may need to talk to an attorney:

• Offers undervalued estimates.
• Tries to settle your claim under another insurance policy.
• Tells you that you do not need an attorney to resolve your claim.
• Requires a written release of additional claims as a condition for insurance settlement.

Not every claim delay or denial is bad faith, yet bad faith claims handling runs rampant after hurricanes. If you suspect that is the case, an attorney skilled in hurricane insurance litigation may help you.

How do hurricane damage lawyers help with bad faith?

Insurance companies sometimes act in bad faith by unreasonably delaying, underpaying, or denying hurricane damage claims. In such cases, a bad-faith hurricane insurance claim lawyer from Pandit Law helps policyholders by:

• Investigating whether the insurer acted unfairly or violated policy terms.
• Documenting all damages and communications to build a strong case.
• Negotiating aggressively to recover full compensation.
• Taking legal action if necessary to hold the insurer accountable.