✅ TL;DR
- Baltimore homeowners and drivers face insurance companies that delay, deny, or undervalue legitimate claims.
- Attorney Eric T. Kirk has spent more than 30 years litigating against the nation’s largest insurers.
- This page covers both homeowners/property disputes and auto insurance denials (PIP, UM/UIM, liability, diminished value).
- Learn the most common denial reasons, what Maryland law requires, and the step-by-step path to challenge a wrongful denial.
- Call now: 📞 410-591-2835
Insurance Companies Reject, Minimize, and Delay Claims Every Day.
“I remain on a decade’s long quest to obtain just compensation, which has been unjustly withheld”
– Eric T. Kirk
For the last 30 years, I’ve spent my legal career battling insurance companies to ensure my clients receive the full compensation they deserve. I’ve secured millions of dollars in compensation for my clients in claims that were denied or initially undervalued by an insurance company.
I Can Help You.
Baltimore Insurance Dispute Attorney
When a Maryland insurance company denies or delays a claim, the impact on a homeowner or injured motorist is immediate and severe. You pay premiums for protection. When disaster strikes, you expect fair treatment—not evasion, obstruction, or lowball offers. Yet in Baltimore, insurers routinely deny claims citing exclusions, technicalities, or disputed facts.
I’m Eric T. Kirk, a Baltimore trial lawyer with more than 30 years of experience confronting insurers—Allstate, State Farm, GEICO, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and others—in claims, negotiations, and the courtroom. My job is simple: I hold them to the policy they sold you.
This page covers both major categories of disputes I see in Baltimore:
Auto Insurance Claims — denied liability, denied PIP, denied UM/UIM, diminished value, repair disputes.
Homeowners & Property Claims — fire, water, storm, collapse, theft, structural damage.
Why Insurance Companies Deny Claims in Baltimore
Insurance companies deny claims for a mix of financial, procedural, and strategic reasons. Some are legitimate.
Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #1: If the denial is not legitimate, your next move is to call me.
Here are the some of the most common denial grounds seen in Baltimore property and auto cases:
- Policy exclusions: water damage, mold, wear-and-tear, collapse, mechanical breakdown, theft. The list is endless.
- Failure to cooperate: adjuster says you delayed documents or didn’t provide “sufficient proof.”
- Disputed cause of loss: insurer claims the cause is not what you reported. Any cause under the sun, other than one covered by the policy is a “win” for them.
- “Not covered due to pre-existing damage”: one of the most common homeowners denials.
- Late notice: insurers argue you didn’t file quickly, even when the delay was unavoidable.
- Technicalities in policy language: often overstated or misapplied.
- Recorded statements. You have to give it, and it will always used against you.
- Lowball valuations disguised as partial approvals. “We’ve got good news”…….
Homeowners & Property Damage Claim Denials
When a Baltimore home suffers damage—fire, water, hail, storm, collapse—the homeowner relies entirely on the insurer to honor the contract. They should, right? They paid premiums for years. They have a contract……
Common Baltimore Homeowners Losses
- Burst plumbing / water discharge
- Roof, gutter, and siding damage
- Foundation cracks
- Fire and smoke damage
- Tree impact
- Storm and wind loss
- Vandalism or theft
- Electrical/structural failures
How Insurers Can Avoid Paying
- Mislabeling a covered loss as “maintenance”
- Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #16: Insurance companies set the tone in your first conversation. Buzz words like: old, repair, records, schedule, prior, are an adjuster shifting the tone of conversation about your loss from covered, to uncovered.
- Claiming long-term seepage when the damage appears sudden
- Arguing wear-and-tear every single time there is a loss
- Citing ambiguous exclusions without clear factual support
- Ignoring contractor estimates
- Over-relying on internal “preferred vendor” reports
Maryland’s Good-Faith Standards Apply
Under Md. Code Ann., Ins. § 27-1001, policyholders may pursue additional remedies if an insurer fails to act in good faith when adjusting a first-party property claim.
Auto Insurance Claim Denials in Baltimore
Auto insurers deny claims for a different set of reasons—but the tactics are eerily similar.
Common Auto Claim Denials
- Denied liability (“We don’t believe our insured caused the crash.”)
- Denied PIP benefits for treatment, wage loss, medical bills
- Denied UM/UIM coverage
- Diminished value disputes
- Vehicle total loss valuation fights
- No injury
- Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #19: This “you were not hurt” is the most insulting one we see. Such a denial usually starts with words like “it is difficult to conceive how you could have been injured given the lack of property damage……
- Contributory negligence
Baltimore Drivers Have Rights
Maryland law requires insurers to:
- Pay PIP benefits regardless of fault (with limited exceptions)
- Investigate UM/UIM claims fairly
- Evaluate property damage honestly
- Provide clear reasons for adverse decisions
- Follow specific timelines under COMAR regulations
If the insurer breaks these rules, you can challenge their findings.
Examples of Wrongful Insurance Practices
- Undervaluing repair estimates and claim value
- Claim denial based on incorrect policy interpretation
- Denying and Delaying PIP or UM/UIM payment
- “Preferred vendor” conflicts
- Claim delay, denial and underpayment based on non-existent facts
- Failing to act diligently and promptly in claim handling
These tactics are standard in the industry. They are not new to me.
Many denials stem from alleged exclusions, disputed facts, or missing documentation—not necessarily because your loss isn’t covered.
Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #349: The insurance company puts your in the position of proving coverage. The law puts them in the position of proving their denials.
Yes. Maryland allows challenges under Md. Insurance Code § 27-1001 for bad-faith or unfair claim settlement practices.
Baltimore Insurance Law 101: The most common method is a claim for breach of contract.
There are time frames for specific cases, and we leverage those. The guiding principle is that Maryland regulations require prompt investigation and written explanation for adverse decisions.
Get independent estimates—never rely solely on the insurer’s preferred contractor. As importantly, correct the record. The more often an insurance company repeats something, it can become locked into the case.
Often. Adjusters use statements to create inconsistencies.
Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #43: The rub: You are required to give one- without counsel if you don’t have one.
For the same reasons they say it “soft tissue”, or, “no visible damage“. It’s a common tactic to deny water or structural claims by labeling them as “maintenance.”
Yes. The methods vary, but an independent analysis, and effective advocacy are the time honored ways to overcome a facially insufficient offer.
Failures to investigate are subject to challenge. As with all Maryland Insurance claims, UM/UIM claims must be handled in good faith.
Litigated claims are treated very differently than unrepresented claims, and handled by different adjusters.
Baltimore Insurance Law 101: Insurers track attorney litigation history.
Photos, repair estimates, medical bills, weather data, police reports, contractor opinions.
Baltimore Insurance Lawyer’s Tip #443: The subject matter and forms of proof are not unfamiliar, and would be expected in an insurance case. It is advocacy and appreciation of nuance that can leverage them.
This is perhaps the ultimate “soft denial”. The claim that is “accepted”, but only in the most insignificant of ways. Maryland treats undervaluation the same as denial—you can still challenge it.
Step-by-Step: How I Challenge a Denied Insurance Claim in Maryland
Step 1 — Policy Analysis
I review the full policy—coverage, exclusions, conditions, endorsements.
Step 2 — Cause-of-Loss Investigation
Independent experts: contractors, adjusters, engineers, collision specialists.
Step 3 — Document Reconstruction
Assembling medical bills, estimates, photos, invoices, prior repairs, weather data, police reports.
Step 4 — Demand
Citing statutory authority and presenting the insurer with a corrected factual record.
Step 5 — Negotiation
Presenting liability, causation, and damages in a structured, prosecutorial format.
Step 6 — Litigation
If needed, I file suit in Baltimore City or Baltimore County Circuit Court.
I do not guess. We present a compelling, fact-driven case with a goal of leaving insurers no room to maneuver, or, “remaneuver” if at first they do not succeed in denying your claim.
Contact a Baltimore Insurance Dispute Attorney
When an insurance company refuses to honor its contract, delays payment, or undervalues your loss, you need a lawyer who is prepared to try the case—not negotiate from a position of weakness.
I’ve spent more than three decades confronting—and defeating—the nation’s largest insurers.
Defeating wrongfully denied insurance claims throughout Baltimore:
Denied Baltimore Insurance Claims: Related Practice Areas
- Baltimore Personal Injury Attorney
https://www.thekirklawfirm.com/legal-services/baltimore-personal-injury-attorney/ - Baltimore Car Accident Lawyer
https://www.thekirklawfirm.com/legal-services/baltimore-car-accident-lawyer/ - Baltimore Truck Accident Lawyer
https://www.thekirklawfirm.com/legal-services/baltimore-truck-accident-lawyer/ - Baltimore Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
https://www.thekirklawfirm.com/legal-services/baltimore-motorcycle-accident-lawyer/ - Baltimore Wrongful Death Attorney
https://www.thekirklawfirm.com/legal-services/baltimore-wrongful-death-attorney/
- Baltimore Personal Injury Trial Lawyer Eric T. Kirk
- Legal Analysis & Case Studies
- Baltimore Insurance Claims Denial Lawyer
For over three decades, I have battled against the nation’s largest insurance companies, always endeavoring to ensure my clients receive the compensation they deserve. As lead counsel in thousands of cases across Maryland, New York, and Florida, I have recovered millions for clients whose claims were wrongfully denied and delayed. Whether denying fair compensation for a personal injury victim or denying benefits to a homeowner, Insurance companies employ policy exclusions, technicalities, and lowball offers to deny and defeat claims. They also hire very good lawyers to fight you in court. So should you. When an insurance company unfairly rejects a claim, I stop them.
Client Review
"Eric Kirk was a great attorney to me. He settled my personal injury case in about 5 short months, and handled my complicated situation with professionalism and a great attitude. Eric handled everything with the insurance companies, and I didn’t have to lift a finger. I am so grateful for the work Eric put in, and it won us my case! I would recommend Eric’s firm to anyone in need of an awesome attorney. Thank you Eric!"
C. Delaney
