Every day, clients ask questions about the claims adjusting process. Recently, a client and retired home builder affected by Hurricane Ian asked me, how much insurance company adjusters make? I probed, “Why do you ask?” The response, “My insurance company has sent 5 different people to inspect my roof damage and the amount they're paying these people is probably more than the cost to replace my roof!”  

I dodged his question by saying they have a right to inspect per the policy. He answered that next year he’d be self-insured since he doesn’t have a mortgage.  It came to mind that the price of disaster is something Florida's insurance lobby should learn a lesson from - just as we learned after Superstorm Sandy 10 years ago. Read: Insurance firms profited $400 million after Sandy.

Speaking of lessons learned, it appears the City of Cape Coral is recommending some homeowners impacted by Hurricane Ian flood damage wait to start fixing their home. The recommendation applies to other areas impacted also.

FEMA’s 50% rule requires structures with damage exceeding 50% of their market value to be rebuilt to current flood evaluation and state building code standards.  While this rule will ensure more homes are built to code in the future, in my experience, most homeowners will be shocked at the cost of meeting code and especially raising a structure. After Superstorm Sand this drove many longtime residents out of the market and forced them to sell lifetime homes. Unfortunately, this will play out with many Hurricane Ian victims.   

All the more reason to make sure you are receiving fair settlement offers based on the coverages in your property insurance policy. If you have questions regarding Hurricane Ian insurance claims, please call our Ft Myers office at 239-360-4036 or contact us to submit a question to one of our public adjuster insurance claim experts. For more information visit PublicAdjuster.com for Claim Tips and follow our On-Property blog.