Property Damage Attorneys in Germantown

Helping Clients in West Tennessee Get Fair Compensation

Car, home, clothes, artwork, landscaping, and more: These have value to you. When what you own is damaged by Mother Nature or a negligent individual, you should be compensated for the loss. You shouldn’t have to bear the financial burden of repairing or replacing your lost or damaged property.

At Snider & Horner, PLLC, we want to help you get the money you deserve.

Despite paying your insurance premiums, insurance companies routinely look for ways to minimize the payout to you or deny your claim altogether. In other situations, the person who caused the damage might try to shirk their responsibilities.

Either way, our attorneys will zealously fight for what is owed to you.

Types of Property Damage

Property damage is an “injury” to real (homes, land, etc.) or personal property (vehicles, boats, etc.). This broad definition covers all sorts of items. The ring you are wearing and the tree in your yard equally qualify. Our Germantown property damage attorneys can help you recover compensation no matter what type of property is damaged.

The following are some common types of property damage in Germantown:

• Homes: No matter how well built your home is, the structure is susceptible to damage from fire, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, and other threats. Mother Nature isn’t the only culprit. Districted drivers can plow into your front window. A thief can break down your back door and grab electronics.
• Businesses: Like homes, a physical business can sustain fire damage, water damage, wind damage, and more. Business property damage liability insurance is designed to protect your business from liability if property belonging to someone else is damaged during your work.
• Motor Vehicles: Insurance for what we drive – cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles – is probably the most common type of insurance in Germantown. Tennessee requires car drivers to carry insurance with the following minimums: bodily injury liability ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident); property damage liability ($15,000 per accident); and uninsured motorist bodily injury ($25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident).

Causes of Property Damage

Property damage generally falls into one of two categories, natural or man-made disasters. Keen negotiation skills are often needed to be properly renumerated for the resulting damage. Our legal team’s negotiation skills and tenacity are beneficial inside and outside of court.

Natural Disasters: This area is no stranger to nature’s wrath. Germantown and other Shelby County communities are among the most susceptible to natural disasters in the Volunteer State. According to Coverage.com, the Shelby County area scores a 10 (highest possible) for hail, lightning, and floods. The area also scores a 9.6 in tornadoes. Other Tennessee natural disasters include severe storms, wildfires, tropical storms, landslides, and earthquakes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) statistics show that Tennessee declared 59 major disasters between 1953 and 2019. Severe storms and floods were the most common in the state.

Negligent Individuals: According to the Insurance Information Institute, almost 98% of all homeowners insurance claims in 2020 were for property damage, including theft. A little more than 2% involved bodily injury and property damage. You might have grounds for a lawsuit if damages result from someone not exercising reasonable care under the circumstances. Grounds can also include situations when someone failed in their responsibility. For example, if you pay for a plumber to repair a clogged drain but end up with a flooded home, you could have grounds for a claim against the plumber and/or their employer. Some property damage is quite intentional. A dispute with a neighbor can turn into a lawsuit if they take a baseball bat to your car.

Property Damage Insurance Claims

Dealing with insurance companies can be complicated and frustrating. By working with us, we will work to lessen your stress. We will handle the back-and-forth, the negotiations, and all possible legal steps while you get back to living your life.

Our starting point with insurance companies is that you are entitled to the replacement value, the cost of repairs, and loss of use until the repair/replacement is completed. Insurance companies, on the other hand, want to pay you as little as possible. Their focus is on making money, not giving it.

At Snider & Horner, PLLC, we are experienced in overcoming typical insurance company tactics:

• Exclusions: Most policies exclude some types of damage. Insurance companies often try to manipulate the situation so that the loss falls into one of these exclusions.
• Value: Insurance companies use various methodologies for calculating value and pick the one that most benefits them. The actual cash value can be underestimated and deprecation overestimated.
• Bad Faith: Your insurance provider may delay payments, offer you a ridiculously low sum, or just ghost you and leave you in the dark. We can use these examples of bad faith to seek compensation above your policy limits.
• Causation: Specific causes are not covered in many insurance policies. The insurance company will often claim the damage was caused by something that isn’t covered.

Our decades of experience in insurance disputes in the Shelby County area gives us the background and know-how to counter all the usual insurance company games.

Property Damage Lawsuits

Sometimes, property damage cases don’t involve insurers at all. You can sue a negligent party under certain circumstances. Our skilled attorneys in Germantown are unafraid to take a case to court. We know how to build a strong argument, demonstrating how you’ve suffered because of someone’s negligence or recklessness.

Property Damage Claims Against the State

According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), if your claim is based on dangerous conditions such as potholes or debris on state-maintained, you will be required to prove your claim, by providing all the following:

• Proof that the road issue caused the alleged damage
• The exact location where the incident occurred and records of your repairs
• Evidence that the state knew about the dangerous road condition before your incident
• Evidence that the state could have repaired the road but did not

Statute of Limitations for Lawsuits

A statute of limitations in civil litigation dictates the timeframe in which someone can sue. Time limitations vary throughout the U.S., and within the same state based on the type of lawsuit.

There is no time to waste in Germantown if you want to file a lawsuit. If the property damage is part of a personal injury lawsuit, Tennessee’s statute of limitations for these cases is only one year from the date of the incident. Lawsuits that don’t include personal injury have a three-year statute of limitations. Your case will most likely be tossed out if filed after the statute of limitations.

Time begins counting when the property owner becomes aware or should be aware of the damage.

Results-Driven Legal Advice for Germantown Property Damage Claims

If you are pushed around or lowballed by insurance companies or need to hold a negligent party accountable for the damage they caused, call the team at Snider & Horner, PLLC. Our Germantown location serves clients throughout West Tennessee.

Learn more by calling (901) 730-8880 or completing our online contact form.