Law Office of Rabih Hamawi, P.C. asks you to provide the following documents, if available: 1) A complete copy of your insurance policy; 2) The reservation of rights letter or denial letter from the insurance company; 3) Any and all correspondence to and from the insurance company, including emails, letters, text messages, audio recordings, photos, and videos; 4) Any estimates of damaged items to be replaced or repaired; and 5) A copy of the police report or fire department report.

If you didn’t read your insurance policy before, you must immediately read your insurance policy, which undoubtedly has many conditions that you must comply with after a loss. Some of these conditions require you to immediately notify your insurance company of the loss, mitigate your damages by taking steps to protect the property from further damage (regardless of whether you received any payment from the insurance company), and provide certain information and documentation to the insurance company. You are also required to timely submit to the insurance company a Sworn Statement in Proof of Loss.

Insurance policies require insureds to cooperate with the insurance company’s investigation, which may include giving a recorded statement. A recorded statement is a statement of an insured taken by a representative of the insurance company such as an insurance adjuster, a special investigator, or a cause and origin investigator. It is usually audio-recorded and may be taken either in person or by phone. During a recorded statement, an insured may request permission from the insurance company to also record on his or her phone or other electronic device the statement given. When an insurance company requests a recorded statement, it is highly recommended that you retain an attorney specializing in insurance law to represent you to protect your interests and to prepare you when giving a recorded statement.

Under Michigan law, results of a polygraph or a lie detector test are usually inadmissible in a court proceeding. Further, under most insurance policies, an insured doesn’t have an explicit duty to take a polygraph or a lie detector test. When an insurance company requests a polygraph or a lie detector test, it is highly critical that you retain an attorney specializing in insurance law to advise you on whether to give one.

Insurance policies allow insurance companies to take your examination under oath and request several documents that may be sensitive in nature. An examination under oath is usually conducted by the attorney for the insurance company who will likely ask you questions over the course of several hours in the presence of a court reporter. Sometimes, you may also be required to review the transcript after an examination under oath and sign it. If you refuse to appear for an examination under oath and refuse to produce the requested documents, the insurance company will likely deny your claim for failure to cooperate. If you are requested to attend an examination under oath, you must be represented by an attorney specializing in insurance law who can properly prepare you before the examination under oath, review the documents submitted, and attend the examination under oath with you.

Generally, yes. Under the insurance policy and Michigan law, you have a duty to cooperate with the insurance company’s investigation and provide all of the requested documents. If you willfully refuse to provide these documents, the insurance company may use your refusal as a basis to deny your insurance claim.

Depending on the facts and circumstances of your claim, an investigation may last between two months and one year.

Generally, Michigan law doesn’t permit an insured to sue an insurance company or to recover additional damages for pain and suffering, humiliation, discrimination, or intentional infliction of emotional distress related to the filing of a property insurance claim.

Before an insurer may indemnify an insured for his or her insured losses, under most property insurance policies, an insured has a duty to immediately notify the police and file a police report if a crime may have been committed.

Although some property insurance policies may include a longer time period, generally, an insured has one year after the date of the claim denial to sue his or her insurance company. In calculating this period, Michigan law provides that the time is tolled (doesn’t count or isn’t included) from “the time the insured notifies the insurer of the loss until the insurer formally denies liability.” MCL 500.2833(q).

Under the Conditions section of most property insurance policies, the insurer has the right to demand that the insured submit to an examination under oath (EUO), which is usually a grueling process where the insurance company may interrogate the insured about anything pertaining to his or her life. Some of these questions may be personal, intrusive, or even irrelevant to the insurance claim at issue. Usually, an insurance company will request that the insured submit a long list of documents before the EUO. It is highly advisable that an insured doesn’t appear for an EUO unrepresented. It’s crucial for an insured to have an attorney who specializes in fire, property damage, and insurance-coverage cases to represent and prepare him or her for the EUO, to explain the process, to review the documents submitted, and go over sample questions of what the insured should expect.