As a follow-up to our insurance claim tips blog post yesterday, some of the calls and reports we are receiving in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby are quite alarming. Residents of the Lakewood Ranch community are reporting extensive flood damage to homes and cars, along with critical care needs due to heart attacks, electrocutions, and other emergencies that have tragically resulted in loss of life. Property owners are stuck in their homes, waiting for the waters to recede, and many are concerned about their coverage since these inland communities, which haven't experienced flooding in over 30 years, are not near the coast. While automobiles will likely be covered, expensive damages to homes may result in numerous liability claims against developers and possibly municipalities. This is an ongoing critical situation, and we are working to assist those calling in need of help.

It’s been about 1 month since Winter Storm Uri unleashed a frozen fury leaving millions of Texans in the dark to survive deadly frigid temperatures and up to $130 Billion in estimated damages. The record cold triggered mass power outages crippling The Lone Star State’s largest cities from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Austin, El Paso and down to Corpus Christi. Despite the frenzy of news media covering the Texas grid crisis, power company executive resignations, bankruptcy filings and lawsuits, little coverage has been given to property owners still suffering from water damage caused by the plumbing freezes, water pipe bursts, or the administrative delays processing property damage insurance claims. Many consumers are just now turning to their insurance agents to file new claims or express frustration about the slow claims process. The single biggest question many are asking is, will insurance cover their claims? 

Based on all the news from various media sources and real time reporting, this Texas weather event that caused power outages frozen pipe bursts and water damage is going to be a monster. Clients we have spoken with along with claim adjusters assigned to our losses are describing unprecedented conditions with damages to homes and buildings. How policyholders report and handle these claims will make a difference in the final outcome.

As millions of residents throughout Texas seek safe shelter, food, and drinking water, many will turn their attention to filing frozen pipe leak claims for their homes and businesses. These pipe burst ruptures are expected to become substantially worse as warmer weather causes everything to thaw out.  For those with damage, hurry up because time is of the essence to report your claim!   

A historic deep freeze is gripping the US with sub-zero temperatures and even more serious wind chill factors. With it will come unprecedented frozen pipe bursts, iced dams and roof collapses that will cause extensive property damage and loss to personal and commercial property as well as business inventory.  As for homeowners, if you discover a leak, turn off your water, call in a reputable plumber, inform your insurance company of the damage and get their agreement to fix and pay for the damage before hiring a reputable clean-up company.

Q. We moved into our new house and within a few weeks, the sewer backed up into the shower and leaked out of the shower pan all over the downstairs area (very stinky!). Everyone agrees this is considered a "Category 3" leak. Remediation company came and took out the tile, flooring, a lot of drywall and dried everything out. Insurance company has no problem paying them for everything they did (they seem to work together a lot). Insurance adjuster is saying that the tile and shower pan are part of the plumbing and are not covered, but is saying that they will pay for the cement board behind the tile in the shower. They are also only planning to pay an amount roughly equal to the cost of the remediation for reconstruction (which is roughly equal to the estimate from the remediation company....because they provide reconstruction services as well). It seems ludicrous that reconstruction would cost the same as remediation. To rip stuff out and dry it out is a lower level of skill and doesn't require any materials.....but the adjuster is saying we are lucky that he is covering what he is covering. The remediation company isn't even available to do the job. We have 3 bids from other quality contractors that actually have availability and they are double the price.

Citizens has changed the coverage in their policies for non-weather water losses. Now the limit is $10,000 unless you use one of their managed repair companies. Unfortunately, AOB abuse and the resulting spike in litigation have prompted these restrictions further putting the insured at risk and lessening the value of their coverage. Keep in mind that there will still be older policies out there that have not changed based on renewal dates. But going forward be aware of this limit for water losses with Citizens.

Also note that Citizens aggressively pursues questionable water losses. If you are a policyholder, make sure your claim is legit and don’t be pushed into a claim by an overly aggressive restoration company or public adjuster.

https://www.citizensfla.com/documents/20702/10091213/20190612+08B+SIU+Cases+of+Interest.pdf/dfac956d-e86f-4fd0-92d6-96081d69ed2f

Our public adjuster offices settle many claims each month. Here is one written up by our Pittsburgh Public Adjuster, Mr. Zach Flora. It’s a good lesson about digging into the details and taking charge of your claim. On August 25th a Pittsburgh family of 3 were away enjoying a fun filled family vacation when they received a call from a neighbor that quickly turned their sunshine to clouds. The neighbor called with the horrible news that their garage door was mysteriously open and water was pouring out onto the driveway. 

Due to the widespread, wind, flood and water damage caused by Hurricane Florence, there is likely to be a shortage of insurance adjusters to handle the volume of claims that will be reported to both the government (FEMA) and the private sector insurance carriers. For those of us in the business, we see it after every major storm. The rush to get damages assessed, by insurance company adjusters and the many inexperienced contractors eyeballing damages, will create impediments to solving policyholder claims.

On February 21, 2018 the policyholder experienced a category 3 water loss in her Carnegie, Pittsburgh home from a broken stack pipe that runs from the second floor bathroom through the kitchen, which in return sent sewage throughout these areas of the home. Immediately upon noticing the damage the homeowner called a restoration company to mitigate the damage and called her insurance company to report the damage. Not knowing what other options she might have, she followed her insurance company’s instructions and sent their claim adjuster a few days later to inspect the loss.