The 2016 Windstorm Insurance Conference is in the history books.  A final count determined over 1,050 claims professionals were in attendance in Orlando, Florida.  Registrations exceeded a lot of folk’s expectations this year given the lack of a major Cat event in the southeast. But this year’s success goes to show that the Windstorm Insurance Network, Inc. has evolved into much more than a regional conference. Super Storm Sandy is a reminder that there are shared experiences with other parts of the country and as the old saying goes, “knowledge and information is power.” The WIND Conference is in my opinion the place to go to enable professionals to enhance their skills and knowledge about property insurance matters. 

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Congratulation to Rick Tutwiler, who was presented the 7th Annual WIND Presidential Recognition Award at the Windstorm Insurance Network Conference in Orlando, Fl.  The award was established to recognize annually a member who has contributed significant knowledge, service and leadership to better the Windstorm Insurance Network (WIND). Rick was also elected as the 2016 Secretary of the WIND Board of Directors. It is wonderful to see Rick recognized for all of his extracurricular work to better the industry. All of us at Tutwiler & Associates Public Adjusters are proud of you.
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Hard to believe that 16 years has passed since a group of eclectic insurance professionals got together to start the Windstorm Insurance Network, an educational association dedicated to educating all the various parties involved in insurance loss adjusting issues. Prior to that first meeting, I would never have predicted that given the nature of all the opposing interests regarding not only high-dollar losses but also egos, complex insurance contract terms, as well as a host of fact issues of a loss from wind and other perils, that this endeavor would have been so successful. 

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As the old saying goes, when the Florida legislature is in session, no one is safe.  Even with a decade of no major storms or Cat losses, a lot of things are going on in Tallahassee involving property insurance. Because of their potential impact, I am going to dedicate a few blogs on some of these issues as I think the outcome may in some cases negatively impact Floridians and in others bring about needed change and reform. 
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Public Adjuster Rick Tutwiler will be part of an expert panel that discusses Wind vs. Wave Action at the upcoming Windstorm Insurance Conference from February 1-4. This highly interactive presentation will provide insurance professionals with practical information to help separate damage to structures due to storm wind from damage caused by storm surge. The presentation begins with education regarding wind loads and how buildings respond to wind force. Storm surge and how structures respond to rising water and wave action will also be highlighted...
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Its seems that all the weather experts I have heard are in agreement that we have at least three more months of El Niño influenced weather to look forward to. For the property owners that already have tornado damages from the last two Florida west coast storms you may be exposed to additional damages. So please don’t let your guard down.
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Florida has gone through a remarkable decade without any wide spread wind losses. The past two weeks broke this lucky streak when two weather events resulted in tornado damage on the west coast of Florida, most notably in Coral Springs, Siesta Key and Sarasota. It seems that most experts contribute these wind loses to the El Niño weather phenomenon currently in place. Over the next few weeks there will be a rash of tornado and wind damage insurance claims. 
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On February 2^nd at the Windstorm Insurance Conference in Orlando, I along with Janet Brown, Esq., Boehm, Brown & Harwood, P.A.; Wayne Taylor, Esq., Mozley, Finlayson & Loggins, LLP; and Art Newman, Belfor USA will be conducting the 4 hour WIND Certified Umpire Recertification® class. If anyone in the insurance space has any knowledge regarding situations or problems related to appraisal or umpiring that we could re-purpose as a question for the class, we would appreciate it if you could share it with us. You can send the information to me at: tutwiler@publicadjuster.com.
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This is the time of year to reflect on our activities and share some of our most popular blogs. We started the year with Winter Storm Juno and the record snow and ice that brought ice dams and pipe bursts. Will we see a repeat in 2016? While we are now 10 years without a hurricane impacting Florida, we did experience severe flooding in the Tampa Bay area and then saw torrential rains bring record floods to South Carolina. And of course our property insurance claim tips to educate policyholders and adjusters always proved popular. Of course, the year would not be complete without the legislative controversy that included Assignment of Benefits issues and exposing some of the poor claims handling practices still in vogue. We’re looking forward to providing you more claim tips and coverage of the insurance industry in 2016. If there is an insurance claim issue you’d like us to write about or if you have a property claim related question, just let us know. A healthy and claim free Happy New Year to all.

Assignment of Benefits in Florida – The Beat Goes On

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A strip center in Tampa’s historic Ybor City caught fire destroying half of the building, a retail/manufacturing business and damaged the other section of the building rented to another tenant. The cause and origin of the fire was not suspicious, thus all the property owners needed to do was seemingly settle the claim with their insurance company. And here is where the trouble started.  
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