Residents from across Southeastern Pennsylvania are bound to remember the hailstorm that pummeled the region in May of 2014.
Countless homes and automobiles were damaged, airplanes flying into Philadelphia International Airport had their windows cracked, and even a sunroof at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing was shattered by hail.
For those who owned property during this or any hailstorm, you know firsthand that it is often very difficult to fully comprehend the extent of damage that hail can cause. Fortunately, Wheeler, DiUlio, & Barnabei know exactly what you need to receive the compensation you deserve from your insurance provider.
What Insurance Companies Won’t Tell You
After the 2014 hailstorm, two homeowners contacted our offices for help. Both of them had suffered damage to the interior and exterior of their homes, which was caused entirely by the hailstorm. When the homeowners contacted their insurance companies, they expected help during their time of need.
Unfortunately, their insurance providers neglected to inform them that a more detailed inspection was needed to fully understand the extent of the damage their home had suffered. Much of the damage caused by hail cannot be detected by the untrained eye.
After a hailstorm, you must call a professional who can understand and evaluate the less obvious damages. Many homeowners are unaware of this, and your insurance company will almost never recommend that you seek a second opinion.
Oftentimes, without a comprehensive professional analysis, your insurance company will give you less money than what you’re entitled to or, even worse, may completely deny your claim.
How Can An Attorney Help?
When our clients came to us, they were obviously concerned. How could the companies they were paying to protect them refuse to help them when they were needed the most?
In both of these cases, our clients’ insurance companies wanted to “pick and choose” which repairs were necessary and which ones weren’t. They wanted to stick with a simple patch job to cover up the surface damages, and tried to ignore any further inspections into any other issues caused by the storm.
Wheeler, DiUlio, & Barnabei stepped in immediately to set the insurance companies straight. We pointed out that the purpose of homeowners insurance is to bring a home back to a pre-loss condition, not to simply “patch things up” and hope for the best.
We brought in an expert, who was able to point out all of the below-the-surface damages that the insurance company had completely overlooked. We also helped the homeowners interpret and understand their insurance policies, which are intentionally written in vague language that insurance providers then use to their advantage.
With a complete understanding of what they were entitled to under the terms of their policy, and with an expert report on the extensive damages incurred by their homes during the hailstorm, we were able to help the homeowners fight for what they truly deserved. Both clients received full compensation for all damages, and were finally able to completely restore their homes.
After a major storm, there is one thing you must do in order to protect yourself and accelerate the process of receiving full compensation from your insurance provider: contact Wheeler, DiUlio, & Barnabei. We can help interpret the terms of your insurance policy, put you in touch with an expert to evaluate your home, and make sure that your insurance company does not take advantage of you. You – and your home – deserve it.
