A tornado roars through in seconds. A nor’easter batters your home for hours. Powerful winds rip off shingles, shatter windows, snap trees, and collapse fences. The destruction is unmistakable. Yet insurers frequently deny wind and storm damage claims, claiming the damage resulted from “poor maintenance” or “inadequate construction”—arguments designed to shift liability from the covered peril to you.

Siddons Law Firm fights wind and storm damage bad faith claims. We recover compensation for homeowners across PA, NJ, NY, and MD whose insurers wrongfully denied legitimate storm claims. If your wind damage claim was denied, delayed, or underpaid, we can help you hold your insurer accountable.

The Most Common Bad Faith Tactics in Storm/Wind Claims

Storm and wind damage claims are among the largest by dollar amount, making insurers aggressive in their denials. They deploy sophisticated tactics to minimize payouts.

1. The “Maintenance Neglect” Trap

This is the most insidious bad faith tactic. An adjuster will argue that wind damage wouldn’t have occurred if your roof, windows, or other structures had been better maintained. “Your roof should have been replaced years ago,” they’ll say. “This damage is pre-existing, not caused by the storm.”

This argument ignores critical facts: even well-maintained structures can be damaged by severe weather, poor maintenance doesn’t eliminate coverage for wind damage, and a “poorly maintained” roof that fails due to wind is still a wind claim.

Red flag: An adjuster concludes your property suffered “maintenance neglect” without photographic evidence of specific conditions prior to the storm.

2. Denying Secondary Damage from Wind

Wind damage often triggers secondary losses: water intrusion, mold, electrical damage, structural rot. Insurers deny these by claiming the secondary damage is “pre-existing,” it results from “poor maintenance” not the wind, or it exceeds the scope of wind damage. If secondary damage flows directly from the wind event, it’s covered.

3. Refusing to Cover Temporary Housing and Living Expenses

Severe storms can render homes uninhabitable for weeks or months. Your policy typically covers “Additional Living Expenses” (ALE). Insurers deny by claiming you should have found cheaper temporary housing, refusing to reimburse meals and necessities, or capping ALE at artificially low amounts.

4. Making Immediate Lowball Offers

Days after a devastating storm, an adjuster may offer 40-60% of your actual damages. Many homeowners accept because they’re desperate to begin repairs. This is bad faith—the insurer knows the offer is inadequate and exploits your vulnerability.

5. Delaying Investigation

Hurricanes, nor’easters, and derechos often cause widespread damage. When an insurer delays investigation for weeks or months, secondary damage escalates. This delay is itself a bad faith practice.

6. Denying Coverage Based on Incorrect Causation

An adjuster might claim: “This tree fell due to poor trimming, not wind.” Or: “Your fence failed because of faulty installation, not the storm.” These causation arguments require expertise and evidence. Insurers often make them without proper investigation.

Geographic Service Area: We Serve Storm-Prone Regions

PA, NJ, and the Maryland are vulnerable to hurricanes, nor’easters, derechos, and tornadoes. Siddons Law Firm protects homeowners throughout:

• Pennsylvania: Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, Bucks County, Philadelphia
• New Jersey: Camden County, Burlington County, Gloucester County, Atlantic County, Cape May County
• Maryland Maryland: Talbot County, Dorchester County, Wicomico County, Worcester County

When severe weather strikes and your insurer denies your claim, we fight back.

Why Trust Siddons Law Firm?

We specialize in storm damage bad faith cases. We understand how meteorologists prove storm severity and damage causation, how to challenge “maintenance neglect” arguments with forensic evidence, how to calculate proper replacement costs and secondary damages, and how to hold insurers accountable for unjust denials.

Siddons Law Firm represents homeowners facing wind damage denials. We know insurers’ playbook—and how to counter it.

Pennsylvania (42 Pa. C.S. § 8371) requires fair claims handling and prohibits bad faith denials. Insurers who deny storm claims without proper investigation violate this duty. New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 17:29BB-1) imposes strict standards with treble damages and attorney’s fees for bad faith. Maryland (Maryland Insurance Article §27-1001) similarly protects policyholders and provides remedies for bad faith storm damage denials.

Learn more about your rights: Pennsylvania Bad Faith Insurance | New Jersey Bad Faith Insurance | Maryland Bad Faith Insurance

Frequently Asked Questions

If my roof was already aging, does the insurer have to replace it after wind damage?

Yes, if wind caused the damage. Insurance covers damage from covered perils (like wind), regardless of the age of the roof. Your roof’s age affects depreciation, not coverage eligibility.

Can my insurer deny my claim because I didn’t prevent damage immediately?

No. You have a duty to mitigate damage (prevent it from worsening), but this doesn’t mean you must have supplies on hand or repair before investigation. Insurers can’t deny claims because you couldn’t respond instantly.

What happens if I disagree with the insurer’s damage estimate?

Many policies include an appraisal or dispute resolution process. You can hire your own contractor or engineer to assess damage. If estimates differ, you may demand appraisal, where independent experts determine the actual damage and cost.

Recover Your Full Storm Damage Claim

Severe weather is beyond your control. Your insurance should protect your home. When an insurer denies your storm damage claim through bad faith tactics, they’re violating their legal obligation to you.

If your storm caused fire damage, see our fire damage bad faith guide. If your storm caused water damage, see our water damage claims guide.

Call us today at (610) 255-7500 for a free consultation.

No fee unless we recover for you.

Before You Call: Is This Actually Bad Faith, or a Valuation Dispute?

Most property damage disputes are not bad faith — they are scope, coverage, or valuation disagreements. Bad faith is a narrow legal standard. Use this self-check before calling.

You likely DO have a bad faith case if:

• Your insurer refused to inspect the property at all, or waited months to assign an adjuster
• Your insurer admitted coverage and then withdrew it based on a “reinspection” or new theory
• Your insurer undervalued the loss by 50% or more with no engineer, contractor, or cause-and-origin support
• Your insurer hired an engineer who ignored obvious damage or contradicted the facts in the claim file
• Your insurer delayed payment of the undisputed portion of the claim while disputing the rest
• Your insurer’s claim file notes admit coverage while the denial letter asserts the opposite
• Your insurer demanded duplicative sworn proofs of loss or paper exchanges clearly designed to delay

You likely DO NOT have a bad faith case if:

• Your claim was denied because of a flood, earth movement, mold cap, or wear-and-tear exclusion that actually applies to the damage
• Your insurer paid based on its engineer’s report and you disagree with the contractor/engineer by 10-30%
• Your insurer invoked the appraisal clause — appraisal is a contractual remedy, not bad faith
• You have no independent expert report documenting the scope or cause you claim
• Your policy has an anti-concurrent causation provision and the carrier denied under it
• The dispute is about matching, betterment, or ACV vs. replacement cost calculations

What We Need to Evaluate Your Claim

Please gather these before calling — we cannot give you a real assessment without them:

1. Your full insurance policy (declarations page plus forms and endorsements)
2. The denial or partial-denial letter and any reservation-of-rights letters
3. The insurer’s engineer, cause-and-origin, or adjuster report
4. Your own contractor estimate or public adjuster report
5. A timeline of communications with the insurer from first notice of loss forward
6. Photographs of the damage