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When and EF2 tornado hit the Cape Coral area in early January and then another windstorm added insult to injury, it was a good indicator of what hurricane force winds will do to a community like this. Here’s some drone video showing the wind damaged landscape. We are still working with some policyholders in the area and the situation down there is surprisingly still not good. Homeowners are starting to get their claim checks from their carrier and suddenly realizing they are not enough to fix their damage. Well over one hundred homes are on a 4-6 week wait for tile roofs. Worse yet, insurance carriers are not paying for roof tarps and I hear the local building department is overwhelmed with permitting and inspections.

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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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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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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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Congratulations to Public Adjusters, (from left to right) Mike Stabile, Mike Platts and Rick Tutwiler who showed their community spirit donating time to Metropolitan Ministries in Tampa to hand out turkeys and all the other fixings necessary for families to have a great Thanksgiving dinner. We want to thank all our clients who put their faith in having us handle their insurance claims and wish everyone a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. We all have much to be thankful for. 

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