universal property and casualty review: company will not pay for our roof to be replaced 50

Each insurance policy is different. The insurance rep should have noted at the time of inspection if the roof was older and needed to be excluded. Most companies will only pay for the portion that is damaged and will depreciate the roof for its age. You must however, prevent any further damage to your home or it will not be covered by your insurance. You might check your policy to see if you have replacement cost or actual cash value.

Insurance Agent, Missouri

if you have a wind mitigation form that shows that there was no roof damage prior to the incident that should be submitted to the company as proof (i know they may already have the form but sometimes it doesn't work that way...sorry). You also have the right to ask for the company to send another adjuster and have the case looked at by a claims supervisor or manager. The company may not pay for the replacement of the whole roof but they will pay for the damage to the part of the roof and any covered damages of the water damage. I suggest you get your agent involved and have them see what else they can do to have the claims process go smoother. I also suggest that in the future, you take your own pictures, date stamped if possible, so you can show the adjuster and the company.

miami, fl

I have an issue now with regards to my roof and am wodnering the outcome here. Could you update us? Thanks!

I have a leak in my sons room. It basically has been raining in my house between the concrete block and insulation. The issue is also in my garage and mold has been discovered. I have mold coverage, per my policy. Universal Property is my insurance company and hs done nothing. The adjuster was out in July and I have had to fight and chase him down for 1 month and 15 days. He is putting me off. I am down a bedroom and a bathroom. I have HUGE machines in my house that are costing me money and driving my electric bill through the roof. The machines run 24/7 and are distrubing the peace in my home. I have two small children and the tube that runs from my one sons room to the bathroom is draining the moisture. I can't use that bathroom. So I am down a bedroom and a bathroom. My children are sharing a room and using my bathroom, because it is not dafe to use their own.

I currently have a claim pending with this company. Since filing the claim many "red flags" have gone up that have me concerned. I compare their service with GEICO which I have been with for over thirty five years. I have had many claims with Geico and have always found their service when I needed them to be great. Unfortunately I could not get a policy with them for my condo in South Florida.

Universal: 1. Difficult to report claim by telephone
2. Delays in having adjuster come to inspect property
3. Adjuster is "Independant" contractor, not employee
4. I was told to wait 20 days for the "review" even though they had all information needed
5. After 20 days I was told it is being reviewed by adjuster. I was told adjuster/uderwriter would contact me with status
6. After 10 days and three phone calls by me I still have not received a call from the underwriter

I believe people should share such experiences, especially regarding insurance companies. You only get to know what they are about when you need them. I'm afraid I may have problems with this claim.

I want to know the options I have with the State or other authority should they fail to live up to their agreement.

I am going through the same thing with Universal Property and guess what, they just decided they would not renew our policy for the upcoming year.

To all of you who posted here, you need to really go back to the insurance agent that sold you your policy. He/She has the means and knows whom they need to contact to get the ball moving in your behalf. It is much easier for them to contact the insurance company in your behalf versus you doing it.

an insured should never have to deal directly with a company...that is what your agent earns their commision for...make them earn their money! So many times insureds try to handle claims on their own and should not and do not have too...Most agents never provide customer service after the intial inception of the policy..they just continue to reap the benefits of your constant or guaranteed renewal...MAKE THEM KEEP AND EARN THEIR COMMIONS

SHEDEN,

Agents are not licensed for claims. You MUST work diectly with the company, and the adjuster. The agent, should help you with everything else though. Sounds like you need new agent.

As to the wind mitigation form, that has nothing to do with damage. It has to do with whether you are up to current codes and if you meet eligibility for certain discounts. I noticed the OP did not mention how old the roof is (I find it funny, when people complain they leave out such important details). If the roof is too old, it won't and should not be covered (read the exclusions in your policy, its called wear nd tear and t is never covered. If you want it covered get a home warranty).

JB7
You are quite wrong on a few points,

first if the roof is damaged by wind over 25% of the roof then entire roof has to be brought up to code in the state of Florida and every homeowners policy in florida has code up grade or ordinace and law coverage. does not matter if the entire roof is suffering from wear and tear if the roof has wind damage which can not be repaired due to condtion of the roof the insurance company buys the entire roof.

2nd yes the wind mitigation form is to verify if the roof is up to code or not but a roof which is worn out is not up to code and therefore would have not qualified for the mitigation discount.

Finaly while the agent is not an adjuster there is a relationship with the company and the agent and the agent can bring pressure on the company to work with the insured. (maybe not a lot but it does help)

almost every policy in the country is write by ISO, the insurance service organization. coverage A is the dwelling and you are to received replacment cost of the roof if damaged. not patched or repaired but replaced. when it come to claims you should work with the claims dept and also hire tourself a Public adjuster. They work for you and will get everything you are entiled to. Remeber Replacement cost for the roof not the cost to repair a few tiles. I know a man who was offered $3500 for a water damge claim the public adjusted got him $60, 000. They had to replace all the floors and the wood and sheet rock etc. Quite a difference hey?

Trust me.

JB7 is a fraudulant insurance agent pretending to show some level of expertise. Please stop posting unhelpful posts for people that get screwed by the insurance industry.

im having a problem with universal property and casualty also, my house caught fire jan 2 2009, nad we had to wait a week for the adjuster who then sealed the house for the fire forensic team had to wait another week for them, they found what caused the fire a short in the air cleaner, then we get a letter saying they arnt going to pay because of a error on the application for insurance (which we didnt sign ) someone else did someone from their company forged our name on this paper, (it wasnt our agent either)our attorney proved this, and here we are 18 months later waiting to go to court, they have come up with every excuse in the book we lost everything, we have 3 small children and we have had to borrow money just to get the house liveable we have no heat no ac, no kitchen cabinets, no flooring, and still they wont pay, they are a joke avoid them at all costs, its better to pay a little more then end up like us its a pure nightmare

Without going into lengthy boring details, I will say this: Stay away from Universal Property and Casualty.
Their service is horrific. This company will blindly steal from you, and they are very difficult to deal with. Quite frankly, I am very surprised they're still in business. I had to file a complaint with the Insurance Commissioners Office and order to deal with them. Stay away from them and save yourselves a lot of frustration and headaches.

THE KEY WHENEVER DEALING WITH THIS COMPANY IS TO HIRE AN EXPERIENCED INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ADJUSTER who will represent you, deal with the company for you, and make sure that you get everything that you are entitled to. Trying to deal with the insurance company through your agent is also a waste of time.

The adjuster that you hire to represent you will charge you about 10%, but it is worth every penny.

Insurance companies, like this one for instance, hate public adjusters representing policy holders. The insurance companies cannot take advantage of a professional adjuster the way that they routinely take advantage of policy holders.

(No, I am not an adjuster, just a policy holder who, at the suggestion from a caring friend, hired one when there was a problem... and am I ever glad I did!)

I have hired a public adjuster (15%) and still had to hire a lawyer our lawyer just added our kids as plaintiffs and we got a letter from the insurance company that the kids are not policy holders and they would not have covered anything of theirs anyway?
here we are going on 19 months and they will not give a written reason why they aren't paying, we have went to 4 depos for them all over florida one was 130 miles away and still nothing. a month after they fire they even told us to hire a fire restoration company their adjuster even talked to the company set up the packing and inventory but once they company came out packed out and took anything that was savable that is when they said hey we aren't paying so anything we had left is in a storage building we cant get because the company has not been paid so we lost everything! they WILL rip you off !I pay 2, 000 a year for insurance its only for 120 structure and 60 contents its not for this massive amount .they DON'T PAY !

By using the services of our own adjuster to deal with the insurance company, we got everything that was owed to us. Yes, this insurance company tried to drag this on for a couple of months, but they did eventually pay. I guess we had a very good adjuster to represent us. Had we not hired our own, I am sure that we would have been completely ripped-off by the insurance company.

...and 15% is too much to pay for an adjuster if they are reputable.

well the adjsuter i hired is very good, he is supposed to be the best here in northwest florida, and i felt 15% is high, but for 10 months i have lived in a 18ft camper with 3 kids 4 if you include the ol man, i dont care what they charge i just want some help and i looked it up at the court house this insurance company has around 200 open lawsuits, and that is just here!

Universal Ins. Company left me with nothing for over 10 months after my home burnt to the ground. 18 months later and thousnads of dollars with a laywer...I am still trying to get the rest of my policy paid to finish my rebuild.My agent would not do anything for me.

Exactly i have seen where hundreds of people are having to sue,
I still have not gotten a thing from them they wont even give a written reason as to why they wont pay, i had to borrow money to gut and rebuild, just the shell of the house so we would have a place to live i couldnt afford the camper rental and a huge house payment, we have nothing, no kitchen 1 bathroom no interior doors, nothing this is honestly a nightmare, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!

UNIVERSAL INSURANCE AND WIND MITIGATION FORMS
The State of Forida laws and the Officie of Insurnace Regulation rules state that; if a homeowner gets a wind mitigation inspection form, completed by a qualified individual, the insurance company is to provide a discount for each satisfactory mitigation feature that is listed on the form for the wind portion of an insurance policy. (there are nine features listed on the inspection form...) Pictures are required to verify the infomation that is listed on the form...

The level of discount is based on each individual catagory of mitigation feature and their percentage varies with each feature.
Example: A perfect form with all features listed would provide 100% of the discount that is available to the policy holder... However, the most important feature, opening protection (shutters) is only valued at 15%, where the difference between a "hip" roof and a "gable" roof only makes up 7% of the discount...

Now, Universal is currently denying the entire Wind Mitigation discount if their underwriter determines the photographs are not clear enough if they "can't tell" what feature the photograph represents. (IE: the tie down strap is not clearly visible.)

To make it more clear, State Law requires an insurance company to provide a discount on the wind portion of a homeowner's policy for the features that are listed on the form, and, if there is one mitigation feature that is not in evidence, THAT feature does not receive its portion of the discount. But, the rest of the features on the form are still to be considered.

Universal Insurance is commiting a violation of State Law (and thus Insurance Fraud) by denying the entire Mitigation discount to it's policy holders who have submitted a properly completed Wind Mitigation form that has been signed by a qualified inspector!

I am a building contractor and agree with all the above complaints. The job I am doing now has in the adjustment take down 212 sq. ft. of drywall and put back 112 sq.ft. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU?
AND A WHOLE LOT OTHER MISTAKES AND OMMISSIONS...What amazes me is HOW the STATE of FLA. lets them stay in business...I have an attorney, working on the case so I can get paid for repairing a home...IT IS HARD TO RUN A COMPANY WHEN you are given 60% and you have to wait 3 mos. for the other 40%...YOU GOT TO WONDER HOW THESE PEOPLE SLEEP AT NIGHT...DO THEY EVEN HAVE A CONSCIENCE

To all people who are dealing with Universal Property and Causalty Ins. Co.---Get in touch with a construction co. that specializes in ins. work for all your structural damages. Make sure they use Xactimate software-( an ins.adjustment program that is updated monthly). You may pay for a public adjuster, and then have to pay again for a construction co. to repair the damages. The construction co. should have a form called "Assignment of Insurance Rights", this form has the construction co. deal directly with the ins. co. for proper repair. MAKE SURE THE CONSTRUCTION CO. IS STATE CERTIFIED.

To all those who are dealing with Universal Prop.& Caus., I am a State Cert. Contractor, presently working on a claim, the ins. co adjustment paid " x" amount on the claim until I got involved, so far I have got them to pay 3x, and my bill to them is nearly 6x, and my attorney is getting the rest for my company. He does not chg. me or the homeowner..The losing party(Ins. Co.) pays the attorney ...THERE IS HELP FOR ALL OF YOU DEALING WITH THIS INS. CO. YOU CAN HIRE A PRIVATE ADJUSTER, AN ATTORNEY, AND A CONSTRUCTION CO...MY ADVISE IS CONTACT A STATE CERT. CONSTRUCTION CO. THAT DEALS WITH INS. CLAIMS--THEY SHOULD HELP YOU IN REBUILDING AND KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE INS. CO...Make sure they use Xactiamate Ins. est. software.

Oh NO. I have toxic mold in my house do to a water leak. I talk to the insurance company and they told me to get the cabinets out of the house and to stay some where and they would pay us . JOKE. I cant even get any money out of them to to replace anything . this mold was proven TOXIN., they are dragging there feet. ANyone no of a good lawyer.

In my opinion this is the norm. for UPCIC, we stay in business on the claims they deny and to date we have been very successful in turning all of them around. The insured is at a large disadvantage due to the fact policy language is written by insurance company lawyers and in most cases makes little sense to the average Joe. I have seen this no coverage denial letter often and in most cases it states incorrect language regarding the cover peril. Accredited Public Adjusters has been very successful in getting claims paid after denials have been given, so call us you have five years to reopen a claim. If we can’t get you paid, our time and efforts are free. We have a no fee guarantee, no recovery no fees. www.apublicadjuster.net

As an employee of a public adjusting firm, we deal with this company on a regular basis. I can tell you from experience that they will NOT pay you, or fail to pay the fair replacement value in any of their claims, period. He have successfully helped many of our clients to claim and get paid the adequate fair replacement costs when damages have been covered by their policy. I would not recommend making a claim by yourself, or with your agent. As agents lose commission base when they have claims on policies they have written for insurance companies. Hire a public adjuster, even if it is not our firm, get the help of a state licensed professional that knows what, when, where, why, and how to proceed with the claims in Florida.
A message from Professional Adjusters South, INC.
You may contact my with any questions at [protected]

I am also dealing with these people. They were rude to me on the phone, and actually accused me of trying to get them to redo my bathroom. I am still waiting on someone to call me. They sent their adjuster who said there is serious water damage. My plumber came and said there is serious water damage in the bathroom and further sent them a fax. They then sent their plumber who told me not to use the shower area. Since then, I have not heard back from them. Stay away, this company is not user friendly at all.

I have Universal now and policy is up for renewal next month. They sent me a renewal notice with a 25% increase over last year so I am shopping for new company. I was with Univerdal 2 years ago for 1 year and then they non-renewed me to "limit their hurricane exposure." Last year, my new agent wrote my policy with them again. I told her I had been non-renewed by them 2 yrs ago. She said "no problem." Recently I was told by another agent that according to "agent guidelines, " if you have been non-renewed you cannot go back with the same comapny and further that if I had a loss, it wouldn't have been covered, unless my agent had sent them a special letter requesting acceptance in light of the fact that I had previously been on-renewed and I'm sure she didn't. So, which agent is right? And the same agent that wrote me the 2nd time with Universal flat out refused to contact them when they rejected my Wind Mitigation Report and added $1, 900 back into my premium because they said the inspection wasn't done by a qualified inspector...and Universal waited to do this until after I paid them 50% of the premium. I did the inspection through "MySafeFlorida" and found the inspectors name on their website. I even faxed all of this proof over to the agent but she still refused to contact them - I think she was afraid of them for some reason. So I called them and luckily got a real nice cust svc rep who listened to me and went online to MySafeFlorida and found the inspectors name and gave me back the $1, 900 credit. After reading all of the reviews above, I definitely would not go with Universal again anyway. Unfortunately, I probably paid a whole year premium for nothing - just lucky nothing happened. How can the average guy know what company and/or agent to trust when entrusting their most valuable possession to them? I just saw a special on TV about Universal buying two custom choppers from Orange County Choppers - guess our premiums paid for them since they never pay out on any claims. These people should be run out of town!

We have assisted several homeowners in recovering what they are entitled to with this and many other insurance companies. After reading many of these comments I have to say that there is a Policy and many policies are different. Handling your insurance claim without the representation of a professional is similar to hiring the IRS to prepare your taxes, whose best interest are they going to worry about. As much as you may have had problems getting what you deserve, I can tell you that you most likely have a good policy that offers you much protection if you know how to properly present your loss to your insurance company. I am a State Licensed Public Insurance Adjuster and I would like to offer anyone on here a free claim evaluation where I can explain different options available to you under your policy.
For more information on how we can help you please visit http://www.claimconcepts.com or call [protected].
http://bit.ly/i9sNkn

After filing my claim, their customer service was bordering on rude. The agent told me first ti fix the damage and then call them. After I told him that that sounded strange, he became paranoid and asked if I was taping him. I was not, he was simply on speaker. He then transferred me to the supervisor who accused me of trying to get them to redo my bathroom simply because I wanted to refurbish. This deduction was due to his opinion after viewing my house decor and the damaged bathroom. In the end, they sent THEIR plumber who agreed with them that the damage was due to age and was not covered in my policy which was the most expensive and covered all. Stay away!

I have litigated insurance claims against every company that does business in Florida. Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Company is by far the worst insurance company out there when it comes to denying claims or low balling their insureds. Beware of the red elephant.

I filed a claim 3 months ago for a tree that fell from an adjoing property not owned by me. I was paid 569.72 cents with no problem, then a neighbors tree was struck by lightning and fell and damaged my fence and landed on my riding mower. I was unable to contact the adjuster that they sent out and then I received a notice that they are canceling my policy due to change of risk, failure to mitigate damages and for not repairing damages. I am not sure whatt to do about this. Is it legal. Meanwhile my last claim is somewhere at their office being denied due to my failure to mitigate! I have not received one piece of mail or phone call concerning this calim and when I call I am transferred from on person to another. The agent is not much help either. I am now shopping for new insurance which is almost like searching for gold in an ocean. I had this insurance for 7 years, can't believe how they can get away with this.

June 9th 2012 we had bad rain and flooding in Pensacola with wind driven rain I have been waiting tell today to hear from Universal Property and Causality Insurance Company to finish my claim. Well it was denied, I guess you have to do maintenance on your roof, I have never heard of that. I have only had this roof on this house since 2005 and it is still in very good conduction and the roofers I have had out here and their adjuster say the same thing. They say the roof is leaking because of the wind driven rain. I'm now going to have to fight for my roof to be replaced because now when it rains it is just leaking like crazy in the back of my house. I pay good money for insurance and dam it when I need it they are not there for me. I have talked to my agent today and she is going to contact them, because I just had my house appraised 3 months ago and they said my roof was in great conduction What am I to do?.

Extremely shady and deceitful. Paid my insurance for the past three years. Now that I filed a claim for some ceiling damages due to what they claim as wind driven rain, They're suddenly dropping me. Claims the roof needs to be replaced. Well what was the purpose of having/paying insurance. I haven't as yet received any compensation. Spoke to everyone from top to bottom and all I get is the runaround. The amount of money I paid for the past few years could have been well spent on a new roof. Odd thing is they say the roof is original. They've sent out their own mitigation group to evaluate the home when i first joined them. My home was build in 83. the mitigation group claims the roof was replaced in 01 in their inspection report.. This only makes the roof 11 years old. I went up with a roofer yesterday to evaluate and estimate. The roofer discovered that there's actually two layers of roof. One on-top of the other. Someone just sits in the office, looks at the report from the adjuster on the claim, and just decides to drop me. There should be some kind of law to protect consumers like this. They need to be slapped with a big law suit.

Great. I have a claim just submitted with them. Cabinets in the kitchen buckled from water damage. Need a new roof. So glad my ex husband chose this company when I am left to pay for this!

You people are ###ing nuts. I agree with CaryGrant. Go rant on Facebook, not a legitimate forum. FYI, you totally sound lika a crazy stalker. Look out CaryGrant! Behind you!

I was reading everyone's experiences on this insurance company, and to be honest, I am not that surprised at all. None of us are nuts, this is how this company truly is, you are not nuts if you are speaking about your experiences with this insurance company, you are stating facts and your opinions as well. This company is very immoral, unjust, unfair, and unethical, and just because we say this company is such a way doesn't mean we are nuts, crazy, or stalkers. If you are writing complaints on complaintsboard you are not a stalker, because you are not following or threatening or frightening anyone, you are just complaining on your experience with this company. Also a person can rant on complaintsboard and Facebook, you can complain on both sites or one or the other, but the complaints of all the people on this insurance company on here seem legitimate to me especially given I worked for this company and I saw and heard a lot of not that great things. As far as my experiences with Universal Property and Causality, I worked there and it's not a good company to work for or get insurance with. I honestly believe this company doesn't care about it's insureds, and I honesty believe this company doesn't care about filling the claims of their insureds with the money they need for the damages to their homes. I think this company is not to be trusted, and it is very shady, very immoral, very dishonest, very deceitful, and very unethical, and I think this company doesn't care if it is such a way or doesn't care what people believe or think of them as long as they are getting money or as long as they can get away with what they are doing. When I worked for this company, I had to learn things on my own, nothing was really explained to me, and you see people come and go hired, and some fired (those fired for any reason or no really creditable reason). I think the employees are treated not that good, and neither are the insureds. I think you are a number not a person they respect or care for, you are just someone to make them money. When you speak up about things going on at work, you are given vague, not good answers, you are ignored, they don't really believe or care what you have to say because this company and some of the managers there feel they are so right all the time, and you are wrong whether you are a new employee or old employee. New employees get treated the worse, as you are not believed over an employee who has been there longer than you. You can be bullied, disrespected, discriminated at work, and nothing is ever done even if you speak up about it, they just deny it, and you lose your job. I would say this isn't a company even worth wasting time on, this isn't a company worth wasting money on, and this isn't a company worth working for. There are so many great opportunities out there where you can be appreciated and valued, and you will be listened to, heard, and respected, and here it's just not the case.