The recent severe weather in Connecticut, including last winter's record-breaking snowfall, this summer’s Hurricane Irene and the widespread damage caused by October’s recent winter storm, have taught many lessons. One particularly worthwhile lesson is to always have your insurance documents available, and to have the most recent versions of these documents. A case in point: a potential client contacted me in despair concerning damage to her home. The person lamented that after reviewing their insurance policy, all the person could find were items that were not covered. Upon meeting with the person, I found the reason for their initial pessimism: the person only had in their possession their monthly billing statements and recent mailings from the insurance company amending the list of exclusions under the person’s policy. The person did not have the most important part of their policy, namely, the actual coverage documents, which were crucial to answering the question at hand. The lesson to be learned is that one should always make sure to have all insurance documents at hand, and to periodically request a copy of the entire updated policy, and not just rely on the updates sent out from time to time. Having an updated copy of your policy makes it much easier to ascertain what your coverage is, rather than reading a ten year old policy and comparing it to perhaps dozens of amendments that the insurance company made in the ensuing period. Having an updated and complete insurance policy may not protect you from severe weather, but it will be an invaluable step forward in recovering from such events.
Have questions or comments? Contact Attorney Jared Cantor.
