After a meeting with the Board President of a Panama City Condominium Association, I had the chance to follow-up with some recommendations for dealing with their insurance company adjuster and contractors that I would like to share with others who may benefit from the same information.  

First, keep in mind that the Board has a fiduciary responsibility to the both the Association members and to itself. The Board will need to assign someone to manage all aspects of the claim to the very finish.  Whether that person be an individual or a committee, ideally that person(s) would need to be qualified and competent to get the association through this burdensome process.  By no means will this be an easy process and given the magnitude of this catastrophic Hurricane. These claims can get complicated and many will not be amicably resolved their claims to their satisfaction.

If your Florida home was severely damaged by Hurricane Michael to the extent that it is uninhabitable to live in, most insurance policies provide a coverage called “Additional Living Expense” or “A.L.E.” if it is a covered loss. Under the Additional Living Expense coverage, you and your family may be entitled to rent another home of the same size, like kind and quality as well as be reimbursed for any extra expenses you incur such as food and temporary lodging.

Hurricane Michael has left thousands of residential and commercial property owners with insurance claims – a process they’ve never had to deal with before. Thanks to our senior public adjuster, Kevin Leisure for participating in a recent WFLA TV interview to discuss what people need to know about the property insurance claims process and what mistakes policyholders need to avoid making. Bottom line, property owners need to be patient but persistent with regards to their insurance claim and educate themselves. Our firm has already set-up an office in the Panama City area and we expect this will be a long process of recovery. Our adjusters are dedicated to educating policyholders and getting them the settlement they deserve in order to rebuild. See our Hurricane Michael insurance claims page for additional information. 

Based on damage reports from our public adjuster staff who have set up an office in Panama City, there is no doubt this event will create insurance claim disputes unlike we’ve seen before. But first we want to commend the continued brave activities of the first responders and quick activities of the city officials. To deal with these perils it behooves property owners to keep their eye on the ball or in this case the money. High percentage hurricane deductibles are being applied and many folks may be surprised that despite their wind or hurricane coverage, they may be out of pocket for mitigation and replacement costs.

I was happy to offer some quick insurance claim tips to Hurricane Michael property owners along with Scott Bedell from Master Restoration. We're already taking calls and our Panama City Public Adjusters will be establishing an office next week. Our prayers go out to all the affected residents. This is going to be a long haul and we'll see the same insurance claim issues as we've seen with other storms and I'm sure we'll see a few new twists. The insurance claim settlement challenges will be omnipresent and we'll be sharing our perspective on the developments has they happen along with some claim tips. Send us any of your questions about Hurricane Michael insurance claims so we can share them with our readers. Stay tuned!

After receiving a low initial offer from their insurance company for a water damage claim resulting from a leaking shower pan on the 2^nd floor, these Lithia, Fl homeowners decided to see if a public insurance adjuster could help them with their insurance claim. They contacted Tampa Public Adjuster, Scott Luginski and indicated they were unfamiliar with the claim process and simply did not have the time or knowledge to deal with the frustration of an insurance claim and negotiating a better settlement.  Once retained, Scott was able to inspect the property and noticed a considerable amount of unaccounted damage. 

Public Adjusters Dick and Rick Tutwiler provide insurance property claim tips on WFLA Daytime Show on when to use a public adjuster for fire loss, water damage and some advice for out of state residents who own vacation property in Florida. Happy to contribute to policyholders’ hurricane season prep.

Great job to Orlando Public Adjuster for contributing to the WESH2 Orlando Hurricane Preparation Show that provided insurance claim preparation tips and showed how a public adjuster can help a client recover. See more helpful interviews on our Property Insurance Claim Tips page. Click here to see the segment.

We're happy to help policyholders understand the role of Public Insurance Adjusters in the claims process and be part of WFLA TV8's 2018 Hurricane season storm preparation and disaster planning programming. Click below to see interview or here if you do not see the image.

It’s been a while since I have seen Cat 5 hurricane damage.  In fact, the last time was back in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew came ashore in South Florida.  No shortage of Cats 1,2,3, and maybe a 4 in there somewhere in the past 26 years, but trust me, a Cat 5 hurricane catastrophe stands out and those memories will stay with you forever.
 

So, it all came back to me when I visited St. Maarten/St Martin, a Dutch/French island in the Leeward Islands, one of the first in the island chain to be hit by Hurricane Irma eight months ago. This was my first trip back after the storm, but some of my colleagues at Tutwiler & Associates Public Adjusters had already been on the ground shortly after the storm passed, meeting with old clients and signing up new property owners as soon as commercial flights resumed. Eight months later our efforts paid off as our clients’ property insurance claims are settled and the rebuilding planning and construction has started for them.