Well, maybe not new, but things are changing and we have seen this coming for some time. In our last blog Tampa Bay Residents Wait on FEMA we noted that staff from FEMA were in the area to inspect the flooding that resulted from three weeks of intense rain. Attempting not to jinx the process, I held off offering my opinion on the likely outcome of the FEMA inspection. But now we know FEMA has turned down requests from State and local officials to provide financial assistance to homeowners and businesses damaged due to the flooding.

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An excellent Tampa Bay Times article, Did the National Hurricane Center Flub Erika? aired some of the discord between the National Hurricane Center folks and others, some of whom are well-respected meteorologists.  The chief complaint seems to be that the reported track of the storm varied considerably as Erika moved up from the Caribbean. As a result, this may have eroded the public’s confidence in future NHC modeling and predictions not to mention set in motion a lot of costly emergency plans. When the Governor declares a state of emergency, things happen, costs are incurred and people’s lives are disrupted.  I suspect we may hear about the actual economic cost businesses and governments, state and local, incur when a state of emergency is declared.  If not published, I hope some enterprising reporter will dig this information out as it is news the public needs to know and should be out in the public domain. 

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An email from a client down in the Leeward Islands this week prompts me to write this blog.  While Tropical Storm Erika is not forecast to cause a lot of damages to the Windward Island Chain is was clearly a reminder to these folks about last years storm.  Here is what my client had to say: “waited in line at the bank for over an hour, it was packed, the island is in a panic mode because of the 2^nd tropical storm that is approaching and especially because of Hurricane Gonzalo last year.”

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FEMA inspected flood damage on Thursday and Friday to determine if the Tampa Bay area will qualify for Federal Flood Damage Assistance. It appears the magic number is that damage must total $26 million statewide.  In the meantime, home and business owners can’t simply wait and hope for assistance and need to both document their losses and do the best they can to mitigate any further damage. If assistance does come, it’s never too early to educate yourself about FEMA’s Assistance program. Here are some valuable links to help you recover and understand FEMA’s process.

Flood Recovery

FEMA Individual Assistance

Check FEMA Disaster Assistance Qualification

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Water losses are by far the most frequent claims reported to the insurance industry. I suspect water losses are also the most frequent perils that impact property owners. Since many are not reported however, we really have no accurate data to determine the full scope of damages that water causes notwithstanding the CLUE reports (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) that are filed for reported claims. Yes, both you and your claim data are being stored and indexed by big brother insurance. Who would have thought with all the privacy concerns that your prior property loss information is stored and shared! With flooding everywhere in the southeast and especially Florida and the Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg area due to a stagnant weather low system, it seems timely to cover a few of the issues policyholders are facing with water losses and their insurance claims.
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A few years ago I was invited to speak at a conference of insurance professionals in Rhode Island.  My topic was surplus lines insurance which at that time was a very hot topic, at least in Florida as there was a pending Florida Supreme Court case that had it turned out different, could have changed the surplus market insurance scheme in a big way.  As it turned out due to the Court’s ruling, the surplus lines carriers preserved their unique market position and the world in this insurance community did not stop or even wobble. Having been retained recently on a couple of large commercial fire losses and getting reacquainted with some of the nuances of surplus lines, I thought now would be a good time to revisit this unique line of coverage with a couple of case studies that hopefully will shed light on some of the practical problems for policyholders if they happen to be insured by a surplus lines carrier.

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Summer is the time of the year when lightning can cause severe damage or even destroy your property. No surprises to folks in Florida, as they know we are widely regarded as the lightning capital of the U.S.  The raising heat over the Florida peninsula pulling in the cooler sea breeze later in the day often creates spectacular lightning shows followed by out of this world thunder claps. The results of these storms can be manifested in two ways, both bad. The first is life, health, and safety issues and the other is property damage resulting from lighting strikes that cause fires to buildings and destroy personal and business property. The insurance claims that follow can get quite complicated. 
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There is nothing like being victorious, especially when you know you were right. And sometimes the victory is sweeter when the fight was long and hard as was this commercial property insurance claim from a 2014 hurricane loss in the Caribbean that we wrote about a few weeks ago.

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It may be no surprise that not a lot of bills were filed in this year’s legislative session to correct any real or imagined property insurance crises and those that were, died in various committees.   After all, we are fast approaching a decade of no major hurricane strikes that some are saying is a record going back over hundred years! The sitting duck we were supposed to be is looking more like a stuffed bird hung on the wall. Yes, I know it only takes one, but let’s hope the good times continue to roll. There is too much at stake to see Florida or any of our coastal neighbors hit with the big one in this year’s 2015 Atlantic hurricane season just as we are in full recovery mode from the great recession.

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Q. My insurance company will not submit a letter of demand for the appraisal clause. If I do, will I then be responsible for all fees? My policy reads if they do the letter of demand, they will pay for all my appraisal fees.  
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