On Property Insurance Claim Tips Blog

Happy to help educate policyholders in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

There’s no question Long Islander’s & New Englanders endured their fair share of blizzards and wicked Nor’easters’, yet for some of our company’s public insurance adjusters who worked for northeastern clients 30-years ago after Hurricane Bob, it feels like yesterday. Making matters worse, Hurricane Henri is projected to make landfall at high tide and with a full moon and that may result in coastal flooding. Please prepare for potential days without power and stock-up sufficiently.

Tropical Storm Eta has left thousands of residential and commercial property owners with water, flood and wind insurance claims – a process they’ve never had to deal with before. Insurance claim disputes are bound to occur. 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.

As flooding from Tropical Storm Eta unfolds, thousands of businesses and homeowners who never considered the possibility, will be dealing with water and flood damage. Our Tampa headquarters office phones are already buzzing. In order to offer assistance to our readers, I asked my talented staff of public adjusters to share some of the best tips they could think of for handling a flood claim. The following are some claim tips that hopefully will help folks should they have flood coverage or windstorm damage.

Many business owners and homeowners who experienced damage from Hurricane Sally, are just now being allowed back into areas that were deemed too dangerous to enter. Our thoughts are with all businesses and families affected by Hurricane Sally and the brave first responders risking their safety to assist others. Based on damage reports and our own public adjuster staff who are monitoring the situation, the combination of wind, water and flood damage will create some complicated insurance claim disputes. And if property damage wasn’t enough, the long-term loss of power has added misery to the mix. 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 likely to be 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 due to lack of flood coverage or exclusions for water - sewer back-up.

As we continue to answer calls from countless past clients who suffered property damage during Hurricane Sally, initial loss and damage news reports appear conflicting.  According to a September 18, 2020 article published by the Insurance Journal, “Hurricane Sally is not expected to cause a major insurance loss - compared to events such as the ongoing wildfires in California, Oregon, and Washington, or Hurricane Laura.” However, the article explains “Flood Losses Expected to Be ‘Significant’ as the “the storm was more of a flood event.” For those suffering the aftereffects of Hurricane Sally, it’s extremely hard to draw a comparison given each catastrophic event is unique and not one property damage claim or insurance company is the same. Simply put, the facts and circumstances are a case-by-case basis as confirmed by the numerous community associations and past clients we spoke with.

As the catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Sally unfolds, thousands of businesses and homeowners who never considered the possibility of dealing with flood damage will be investigating the claim process. We will be sending a team of adjusters to the Pensacola area when authorities say it is safe to enter. So in order to offer assistance to our readers, I asked my talented staff of public adjusters to share some of the best tips they could think of for handling a flood claim. The following are some claim tips that hopefully will help folks should they have flood coverage or windstorm damage.

Insurance payments to policyholders with flood and wind damage from Hurricane Sally will depend on the policies they purchased, the language in each policy and the laws of each state where the damage occurred. The media is reporting widespread inland flooding, and there are reports that many property owners whose property was damaged by flood may not have purchased flood insurance.  So, what should you do if you do not have coverage from either the government run flood program NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) or flood coverage under some other type of special manuscript policy?

A lot of properties that experienced Hurricane Michael losses are starting to have Law & Ordinance issues. Law & Ordinance kicks in when the Florida and local building code requirements impact what will be required in order to obtain a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) in order to reoccupy the damaged structure. It is a separate coverage in your policy that you must elect and covers some of the cost of required code upgrades. If your property (be it commercial or residential) suffers a loss where the cost of repairs is greater than 50% of the pre-loss value of the real property, your repairs must incorporate current building code upgrades.

Insurance payments to North and South Carolina policyholders with flood damage will depend on the policies they purchased, the language in each policy and the law of each state. Nothing is simple in property insurance adjusting. Hurricane Florence may be a textbook example of some of the issues that may have to be sorted out before there is a discussion about the actual adjustment and payment of a hurricane claim.