It seems like a lot of insurance policies are very vague lately in their wording.
They're not, but if they were, that's to the advantage of the consumer. Any ambiguity in policy language must be interpreted in favor of the insured. Either the insurer will do so voluntarily, or the Department of Insurance will make them do so.[
so ' vague' favors the insured?? maybe, but the insurance co. has lots of $$$, if they don't like the 1st outcome, they will appeal, and then appeal again and again .... i hope u have deep pockets, and lots of time
There's no maybe. Vague/ambiguous language must be interpreted in favor of the insured. This is true in all 50 states + D.C. If the policy language is vague/ambiguous, the smart adjuster will just interpret in favor of the insured and save the company time and money. The dumb adjuster will interpret in favor of the company, in which case all the insured has to do is file a complaint with the Department of Insurance, who will then force the insurance company to interpret in favor of the insured. It doesn't cost a dime for a consumer to file a DOI complaint. It's not court, it's not a lawsuit, there's no hearing, there's no appealing. The consumer files a written complaint. The DOI notifies the insurance company, who has 30 days to respond in writing. DOI then makes a decision, and you do what the DOI tells you to do. If the insurance company is lucky, they'll just be told what to do. If there's a pattern of such behavior, the DOI will hit them with huge fines, fines that more than offset any savings that may have occurred by not paying the claim in the first place.
