Every month, policyholders, car owners or homeowners pay a premium to cover their property, which is one of the most significant investments they would probably make to protect their most valuable asset: their home. Insurance firms are expected by statute to support their policyholders in the event of an accident; unfortunately, they will not always do so. In reality, if you Google "delay, deny, and defend," you'll find dozens of new articles about a well-documented tactic by home insurance providers. Jay M. Feinman's book "Delay Deny Defend" describes how the technique came to be. To be honest, many home insurance firms use this tactic in order to reduce the amount of money they pay out on valid claims. The three phases are to delay, deny, and defend.

The first step of the strategy is delaying the benefits that were initially advertised. Insurance companies seek out any way possible to delay justified claims. For any reliable investment, interest is accumulated overtime. Long story short, the longer an insurance company keeps the funds in their account, the bigger their profit. During that time, they are also looking for the seconded step, the opportunity to deny your coverage. That confusing sixty-eight-page policy is more than just a contract to be overlooked when the policy is sold. What is a better way to deny a claim if the policyholder never understood the policy to begin with? If the Adjuster could not deny your claim, he is at least delaying for a few more weeks. When they are unsuccessful in delaying, denying the claim, or getting the policyholders to settle for pennies on the dollar; they advance to the third step; the carrier will underpay the cost needed to restore their home. As a result, this strategy forces policyholders to either pay out of pocket or seek legal counsel to defend their claim in court.

Why would an insurance company adopt such an aggressive strategy against its own customers? Because it works! The big insurance companies are seeing record profits. Think about it, if an insurance company can save a thousand dollars on one million dollars, then even elementary math calculates their profits. Insurance companies can buy a lot of Super Bowl commercials with that kind of money and despite what they are telling you in their multi-million-dollar ad campaigns, insurance companies do not have your best interests in mind. Their whole mindset is to keep your premiums rolling in while making sure their pockets stay full.

Due to this well-documented strategy used by insurance companies, many policyholders are pressured or scared into the lowest possible settlement. In addition, insurance companies do not want people to know that policyholders have the right to choose their own restoration company to restore their property. They will try to pressure policyholders into using their company of choice, stating that the claim would not be covered if the work was completed by another restoration company. However, if you feel another company will give you better quality, then do it! By law, policyholders are allowed to pick the company they feel is a better fit.

If you have an emergency, take what your insurance company tells you with a grain of salt. Understand that they are using a strategy that is designed to intimidate their clients into accepting a settlement on their terms. Most importantly, understand it is your legal right to get your home restored to pre-loss conditions. If your home is going through a loss and you need help getting it back to pre-loss conditions, FAST Restoration will help. We are open 24/7 and we have specialists awaiting your call to walk you through the process. We understand how the insurance companies can be, we are here for you.

Call us at (407)768-2707 or contact us for all your restoration needs, we are here to help.