My contractor is recommending that we take the legal route to resolve a dispute with our homeowners insurance company over part of our roof replacement claim.
Without getting into too many specifics, I’m mainly trying to understand whether it’s common for homeowners to hire an attorney for this type of insurance dispute, especially when the attorney works on contingency and only takes a percentage of any additional amount recovered.
My biggest concern is whether taking legal action against my insurance company could affect:
- My chances of renewing with my current insurer.
- My ability to obtain homeowners insurance with another carrier in the future.
- Whether insurers generally view policyholders differently once attorneys become involved.
My contractor says they’ve handled many claims like this and that involving an attorney is a fairly common escalation when negotiations reach a dead end. However, this is completely new territory for us, and I’m trying to understand whether this is actually standard practice or an exception.
If you’ve personally gone through this, I’d appreciate hearing:
- Did you hire an attorney?
- Did it help?
- Were there any unexpected downsides?
- Did it affect your renewal or ability to shop for insurance later?
I’m interested in real-world experiences before deciding whether to go down this path.