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Posted on 16 Oct 2008

Almost two weeks after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, thousands of people remain displaced from their homes on Galveston Island, where many residences were severely damaged or even destroyed. The long cleanup process is underway, but that process cannot proceed fully without full help and cooperation from the insurance companies who accepted policies designed to cover such events.

Getting an insurance company to make good on its policy can take weeks. According to the Texas Insurance Code, insurance companies have fifteen days to begin investigation of a claim after a policy owner has notified them of it. (Written notification is advised.) But since the hurricane qualified as a natural disaster, the state insurance commissioner had the discretion to allow a 30-day period, which was granted.

One problem for homeowners is that, as soon as the investigation begins, the deadlines stop. Insurance companies can take as long as they have to send out insurance adjusters and others to investiate a claim. Meanwhile, the policy holder may remain homeless, or lacking a proper home in which to live.

After the insurance company has completed its investigation, it has thirty days (increased from fifteen days after a natural disaster) to decide whether or not to accept and pay the claim. Upon making a decision to pay, it has five days to make payment.

These regulations mean it can take many weeks for an insurance company to make payment on a policy -- if payment is made at all. Homeowners, meanwhile, must be ever vigilant in ensuring that their claim is being processed in a timely manner. If it's not, then they may have to seek additional help.

Galveston homeowners who believe they're being subjected to insurance fraud by their homeowners insurance companies can seek legal remedies by contacting a Galveston hurricane insurance fraud lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates.