The effects of Hurricane Sally wind and rain damage are still readily apparent in the Pensacola area. Roofing crews and blue tarps are still visible wherever you travel and many out of state owners have yet to visit their damaged property or await adjuster claims analysis. What may not be so obvious, are storm related damages impacting electrical and mechanical systems in your home or business. From my perspective, too many policyholders blindly follow a contractor or even their insurance company’s desire to “fix up” the damage and move on to the next claim, putting themselves and their property in danger.

When it comes to the insurance claim side of the equation, it’s no surprise that property owners are reaching that “critical point” that we so often see following a catastrophic loss to their property, especially if that property was their primary residence or a business that generated income. The policyholder “critical point,” I speak of is that awkward feeling of sheer frustration and anger that soon turns into retribution as people who have faithfully paid their insurance premiums year after year without ever filing a claim before receive their initial settlement checks that are a mere fraction of what the true cost of repairs will actually be.  Those who elected to choose that big 5% deductible may be receiving denial claims stating that their damage estimates and cost of repairs fall under their hurricane deductible.

Your home or business suffered damage during Hurricane Sally. You promptly filed a claim or had a public insurance adjuster document and file the claim for you. A check from the insurance company appears in the mail. Great! How easy could it be? But wait, there’s a catch! On the back of your check there is language that states you are releasing the insurance company from any further costs related to the claim.

It’s been a little over a month since Hurricane Sally roared ashore. My fellow adjusters and I have seen some serious damage in the Pensacola area and we plan to be here for the long-haul. Many policyholders are just starting to receive their insurance checks in the mail and much to their surprise, the settlement checks received are grossly insufficient and barely cover a fraction of what the true cost of repairs will actually be. Some brave souls are trying to handle their own claim. We see this same scenario play out in every storm that we have worked over the years.

If the feedback we are getting on the ground in the Pensacola area and the inquiries coming into our offices are any guide, policyholders are none too happy with the settlement offers they are receiving for their Hurricane Sally property damage claims. Most often we are told the offer does not remotely cover the cost of repairs based on estimates local contractors are providing.

As policyholders begin to hear back from their insurance company regarding their Hurricane Sally insurance claim, many will learn that the amount offered by their respective insurer is not sufficient to pay for their complete loss and damages. Some may even learn part of their claim is denied. This is common when there is widespread damage to a geographic area and especially true with more complicated commercial claims to businesses, condominiums and hotels where methods to fix or replace damage can become complicated. There can be many reasons for this including overworked adjusters not documenting specific damages, out of state adjusters not familiar with the market or inside claim adjusters who have never personally seen the claim simply denying certain parts of the claim. 

Not surprisingly, CFO Jimmy Patronis’s statement to the press has caused a lot of interest especially from the media, some of whom were in attendance when his comments were made. Following both print and internet articles of the CFO’s opinion, I have gotten a number of calls from various media folks across the state asking me to respond. As I explained to one reporter, I do not know where the CFO got his facts to support this pronouncement. But given the gravity of his words, I think he should have enlightened folks with some credible facts and figures. The comments I have read and heard is that the press and the public is not buying what he had to say including the reporters I spoke with who share my confusion about where the data (or anecdotal evidence) is coming from.

We were happy to contribute to the 1 year anniversary of Hurricane Michael with information on appraisal as policyholders continue to try and settle their property claims. Thank you Panama City News Herald for running this article: How the appraisal process may help you settle your Hurricane Michael damage claims

Our adjusters continue to battle for fair claim settlements for Hurricane Michael policyholders. It takes patience and persistence. Note todays article: 10 Months after Michael Florida Still Doesn’t Know Wy So May Insurance Claims Are Open . If the state wants some insight into why these claims remain outstanding, they only need to speak with our public adjusters and the law firms in Florida who are fighting these claims on a day to day basis. If you still have an outstanding claim or are unhappy with your settlement, give us a call. You may have more options that you think.

Q. In my case, the insurance adjuster added $10,300.00 to my Irma hurricane claim to cover Overhead & Profit. This amount and the ACV were paid to me by Frontline upfront under my Replacement Value hurricane policy. The recoverable depreciation was held back until the work was completed. I required six trades to complete the work...roofer, painter, solar system, plumber, gutters and garage door. I did not hire a general contractor. I dealt with each trade directly. After the roof and painting were completed this past April (2019), I filed my claim for about $1,700.00 additional expenses relating to the roof and painting, plus the recoverable depreciation relating to the roof and painting (approx. $7300.00 RD). There was no dispute with respect to the $1,700.00 add'l expenses. The balance of the work (gutters, garage door, etc.) will be completed this winter/spring. My out of pocket expenses paid to the roofer and painter was only about $400.00 more than the ACV plus recoverable depreciation. Frontline clawed back almost all of my Overhead & Profit recovery relating to the roof and painting and offset it against the Recoverable Depreciation. The result was that I received a check for about $400.00, rather than a check for $9000.00 that I expected ($1,700 add'l expenses plus $7300 recoverable depreciation). Frontline's explanation is that I am only entitled to receive the amount of my out of pocket expenses so, to achieve this result, they can claw back some, or all, of the Overhead & Profit amount previously paid. The effect of this is that older homes with higher depreciation such as our 45 year old bungalow will have almost all, if not all, of the previously paid O & P clawed back, while a newer home with lower depreciation, like my neighbor's 4 year old home, will have very little of the O & P clawed back. In both cases we have acted as our own general contractor. Has my recoverable depreciation claim been properly handled? My home is in Florida. Thank you