HARD KNOCKSCONSULTING
Select Your Loss
Six losses account for nearly every file we open
Hail damage
01The cosmetic-versus-functional fight, test squares, and soft-metal corroboration. Michigan's hail seasons are short and the denials are formulaic.
READ MORE →Wind & storm damage
02Creased shingles, lifted seals, and the wear-and-tear denial. Straight-line wind events across Southeast Michigan produce thousands of files at once.
READ MORE →Water & sewer backup
03Category and class drive the removal scope, and the removal scope is what gets cut. Sewer backup carries its own sublimit and its own arguments.
READ MORE →Fire & smoke damage
04The largest claims and the longest ones. Smoke chemistry, contents, code upgrades, and additional living expense all get shorted at once.
READ MORE →Ice dams & frozen pipes
05Michigan's signature winter loss. Carriers argue maintenance and inadequate insulation; the policy usually says something narrower than that.
READ MORE →Roof damage & replacement
06Repair versus replace, matching, discontinued profiles, multi-layer tear-off, and the roof-payment schedules that quietly gut a settlement.
READ MORE →What Is Constant
The loss type changes. The method does not.
Whatever caused the damage, a contested claim is won the same way: cause of loss established, scope measured line by line, coverage tied to policy language, and a written position the carrier has to answer in writing.
Cause first
Before scope, before price: what happened, on what date, and what evidence establishes it. Most denials are cause-of-loss denials wearing a different label.
Scope before price
Arguing unit price on a scope that is missing half the work is how policyholders lose while feeling like they negotiated. The omitted line items are the money.
Policy language, not opinion
Endorsements, sublimits, and exclusions decide these files. A position quoting your actual policy form moves a carrier; a complaint about fairness does not.
Appraisal as leverage
When the dispute is amount rather than coverage, your policy's appraisal clause is a real remedy. Being ready to invoke it changes the negotiation before it is invoked.
Free Claim Review
Not sure which of these you have?
Send the carrier's estimate and a few photos. Part of the review is telling you what the loss actually is — which is not always what the adjuster wrote down.
HARD KNOCKS CONSULTING
220 South Main Street
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(947) 241-2950
stanley@hardknocksconsulting.com
State of Michigan — statewideNPN 20573993