Mold Damage Lawyer
Mold damage is dangerous to both your health, your property, and your wallet. Mold remediation is incredibly costly even for minor claims. Damage by the mold could undermine the integrity of your property. Mold spores can also cause serious health issues, particularly for young children, the elderly, or people with asthma. Insurance companies know this and train their adjusters to get around paying mold claims by claiming preexisting damage or damage due to a failure to mitigate. Sometimes adjusters will outright lie to avoid paying a claim. This is unacceptable.
At Schlacter Law, we will not let insurance companies avoid their responsibilities by failing to pay for your mold claim. This is a serious structural and health issue that must be properly handled and addressed. Insurance companies that fail to pay proper claims are only causing worse damage to victims of mold damage. We have recovered millions of dollars for our clients against insurance companies. We offer a FREE consultation, and, if we accept your case, we will aggressively pursue your case to prevent you from being the victim of a natural disaster or accident causing mold as well as the victim of an unacceptable insurance company. There is no risk to ask for our help because we only get paid when we recover compensation for you. Call our award-winning law firm by dialing (305) 999-1111 or fill out a free case evaluation to discover what our mold damage claim lawyer at Schlacter Law can do for you.
Common Causes of Mold Damage Claims
There are many common ways that mold damage could occur in your home. The most general types of mold claims occur due to the following:
- Hurricane and tropical storm damage
- Broken pipes
- Flooding
- Roof leaks
- Window leaks
- Sewage backups
- Other serious problems
Most Common Issue with Mold Damage
Mold damage is unique in that it can occur within 24-48 hours after water intrusions such as leaks or flooding. Mold can quickly spread throughout the property, including to areas that were not flooded. Spores can pollute the air in rooms that were not a part of the damaged area at all, including rooms that were sealed from the original damage. Insurance companies know this and generally exclude or greatly limit mold damage from most policies.
The process becomes more frustrating when water, flooding, or storms cause the initial damage to the property, but an insurance company will not let a homeowner repair the damage, dry out the property, or otherwise address the issue before mold starts to develop. Other times, insurance companies allow a property owner to start mold abatement and prevention but will not pay until a claims adjuster can come outside the 24-48 hour window. This means that mold will start to cause damage to the property, and an adjuster will claim the overall damage was not from water but from the mold. This means that a claim could be denied if there was no extra mold coverage. This isn’t fair and yet it happens all too often.
Call Schlacter Law if this has happened to you. Mold simply will not grow unless there are wet conditions present. We will make sure that your mold damage claim is not the main focus of the damage, but rather whatever caused the moisture in the first place, including water damage from pipes, storms, or other unfortunate events.
Get Schlacter Law to Support Your Mold Damage Claim
Victims with mold damage should ask our lawyer at Schlacter Law for help. If you do not have mold coverage on your insurance policy, this can be a very difficult claim to prove. However, our aggressive law firm and experienced mold damage lawyer can fight back for you even with these mold limitations. Call our mold damage lawyer at Schlacter Law for a FREE consultation to learn what your case may be worth and how we can start protecting your rights to compensation today.
How We Handle Cases
- Investigation
- Your attorney will aggressively investigate your claim. Schlacter Law will compile all necessary evidence needed to maximize the value of your claim. Schlacter Law will also retain on your behalf experts to evaluate the scope of your claim. In other words, the experts will be retained to determine the cost of all of your necessary repairs. These experts may include but not be limited to professional adjusters, engineers, roofers, plumbers and general contractors.
- You will remain in constant contact with Schlacter Law about the progression of your claim.
- Negotiation
- Your attorney will present your case to the insurance company and will attempt to resolve your case before the case goes to court for maximum compensation.
- Your attorney will make every effort possible to resolve the case as quickly as possible for the most amount of money you may be entitled to. You will be actively involved in the negotiation process with your attorney. Schlacter Law understands that this is your one opportunity to get justice for your loss.
- Litigation
- If settlement negotiations are unsuccessful, Schlacter Law will be fully prepared to bring your case to court to fight for the justice you deserve.
- Schlacter Law will hire any experts and professionals needed to maximize your recovery and present your case in the strongest form possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a claim?
As soon as you can do so. Mold damage can cause both structural and health problems. Most insurance policies require you to give notice of damage within days of the claim. It is imperative that you should immediately contact your insurance company to open a claim as soon as damage happens. If the claim is denied or underpaid, you may have five years after the date of mold damage to commence a breach of contract action against the insurance company. Never delay in any claim, especially a mold damage claim.
What may I recover in a mold damage claim?
It depends on what policy and coverage that you have. You will need to have a policy that has mold damage or mold remediation included. Many policies do not have this which is why insurance companies will try to claim that other damage was actually not as bad as the subsequent mold damage. If you have mold damage coverage, your policy will usually allow you to cover remediation, drying out the house, repairs to the premises, replacements of contents on your property, and other compensation for the damage related to the mold. However, oftentimes the mold limit will only cover the remediation and not the underlying damage from the mold, such as a $10,000 Mold Limitation. Carefully read your insurance policy or let Schlacter Law review your policy for free.
Hire Schlacter Law before the PA
We offer a free policy review. Remember, a PA, Public Adjuster, takes 10-20% of your benefit money. If you have mold limitations that could mean they take 10-20% or more of the entire award. Schlacter Law can get paid by the insurance company separately pursuant to Florida law. It is important to always check with a lawyer before signing a contract with any PA.
Mold Claim and AOB
Recent legislative changes forbid lawyers from pursuing underpaid claims on behalf of water mitigation or restoration companies unless strict criteria are met. If an insurance company doesn’t pay the bill now they can come after the homeowner to pay the difference instead of hiring a lawyer to fight on your behalf. We have seen these numbers range from $1,000-$25,000 on larger jobs. That is why you should always consult with Schlacter Law before you sign up with any restoration or mitigation company to review the contract and to protect you. You do not pay Schlacter Law unless he wins your case.
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