For many Texans, housing insurance is crucial to securing the future of their homes and that of their household. As a state that is notoriously prone to natural disasters, this could not be any more important.
As a result, home insurance is popular in Texas, and it posts some of the shortest time frames for reimbursement claims in the USA.
Due to the premium that it places on matters of homeownership, the government of Texas has made provisions that govern issues of housing insurance.
The laws guiding this process define the insurance claim conditions in clear terms. It also accounts for the settlement timeframe and specifies the punishment for violations.
This article takes a broad-ranging look at home insurance claims and then discusses the time taken to settle.
The law requires the claimant and the insurance company to play their role in the entire process, and their functions are discussed briefly below.
The duties of the claimant
- The claimant must issue a written notice of their claim to the Insurer.
- They must provide the necessary cooperation with the Insurer.
- They must present the Insurer with all the relevant information to back their claims
- They take appropriate measures to prevent additional loss or damage
The duties of the Insurer
- They acknowledge receipt of the claim
- They commence investigation into the claim
- They gather all the relevant information about the claim from the claimant
- They pay for all the damage accounted for or provide a reason for doing otherwise.
The entire insurance claim process in three steps
The three steps listed below are typically involved in the overall insurance process in Texas.
- Provision of notice of the claim
- Acknowledgment of the claim by the insurance company and subsequent investigation
- Approval or denial of the claim
The first step to receiving your insurance claims involves issuing a written notice of your claims to your insurance company. In Texas, insurers are mandated by law to respond to claims by their policyholders within 15 days.
Before this time elapses, the claimant is expected to furnish the insurance company with all the supporting documents to back their claim.
Depending on how long it takes them to verify the insurance claims’ circumstances, the insurance company can request an extension of this timeframe.
An example of such a scenario is exceptional cases where access to the house in question can not be guaranteed, as with the site of a natural disaster or any serious incident.
The insurance company might procure an extension order to the stipulated response time in this situation.
As soon as the insurance company can ascertain the damage caused to the insured home, they can kick start the proper compensation proceedings.
They might request supplementary documentation from the claimant, and it lies on them to provide all the necessary information.
With the help of the claims professional, the insurance company can then review the claims and agree on the appropriate compensation terms.
After approval of the claim, the insurance company is then bound to pay out the compensation after five business days.
In a Nutshell
It takes 20 days to get reimbursement from home insurance claims in Texas, subject to certain conditions. This time starts counting down the moment the claim is made and then runs out five days after the claims are approved. An insurance company can seek an extension to this timeframe as long as necessary. And if they refuse to pay after the time elapses, the claimant can take up a bad faith insurance claim.
Contact us today if you have any questions.
