Congratulations to ABC Action News ITeam reporters for clearly explaining the state of Florida’s Property Insurance situation in their Florida Insurance Disaster show. There are still home and business owners battling their insurance companies trying to rebuild. While we applaud Florida’s My Safe Florida Home Program and the recent fine of an insurer not complying with claim regulations during Hurricane Ian, much more can be done to give policyholders an avenue to resolve disputes, hold unresponsive insurers accountable and require insurers have the financial staying power to withstand the serious storms that will come. Follow ABC’s continuing coverage of the Insurance Crisis in Florida.  

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Every year, the insurance lobby tells us insurance companies are losing money, yet lawmakers pass laws and reforms stripping consumers' rights, permitting insurers to delay legitimate claims, and implementing preferred contractor network repair programs that enrich contractors working for insurance companies, rather than insurers indemnifying homeowners for their claims. Additionally, there has not been any real and demonstrative evidence lawmakers can show to support how laws and reforms enacted last year have been protective. All things considered; I am not seeing any financial relief forthcoming for homeowners, especially given the many proposed expansions to the upcoming special legislative session. 

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Q. If the home is a vacation home that is destroyed, are we entitled to ALE? The ALE coverage on the loss statement they sent us says zero but we are going to have to incur multiple airline trips and rental bills in order to set up demolition and then the complete rebuilding of our home. Hope you can help with this information.

A. Thank you for the question and just so you know this is a frequent problem for owners of second homes when there is a loss they must attend to. 

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Q. Does the insurance company pay Overhead & Profit to the insured in Florida for reconstruction of property damage? What percentage is allowed?  

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Almost two months into the 2017 hurricane season, most of the pundits have upgraded the likely number of tropical storms we can expect in the Atlantic basin this year. Of course, these experts can never tell us when and where the storms will impact a particular geographic area, but what we all can do is prepare as best we can based on the location of the property at risk. Just as the mantra for successful real estate investment is location, location, location the same applies in a disaster recovery plan. Know your location, the risk you are exposed to and understand the exposure you are facing.

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We are getting a number of inquiries from policyholders following the passing of Hurricanes Hermine and Hurricane Matthew about damages to docks, piers, and other manmade structures built over or close to the water.  As both of this year’s hurricanes remained offshore for most of their passing, the tropical storm forced winds nonetheless caused quite a bit of damage to coastal area structures, which included damage from wind, water and in some cases, collapse land subsidence which were holding up seawalls and bulkheads.
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While some media outlets are reporting that water is starting to subside in some of the hard hit areas of Columbia and Charleston, others are reporting on the dam failures that could compound matters and make things much worse.  If some of the media reports are correct, many of the good folks in South Carolina may be in for nasty surprises when they call their insurance agent or 800 numbers listed on their property insurance policies to file an insurance claim. As an example, Ben Berkowitz a reporter from CNBC posted South Carolina flood losses $1 billion and rising, about the damages and lack of homeowner flood insurance. 

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A few years ago I was invited to speak at a conference of insurance professionals in Rhode Island.  My topic was surplus lines insurance which at that time was a very hot topic, at least in Florida as there was a pending Florida Supreme Court case that had it turned out different, could have changed the surplus market insurance scheme in a big way.  As it turned out due to the Court’s ruling, the surplus lines carriers preserved their unique market position and the world in this insurance community did not stop or even wobble. Having been retained recently on a couple of large commercial fire losses and getting reacquainted with some of the nuances of surplus lines, I thought now would be a good time to revisit this unique line of coverage with a couple of case studies that hopefully will shed light on some of the practical problems for policyholders if they happen to be insured by a surplus lines carrier.

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Q. A shower pan leak caused wood floor damage. Our insurance company says damage from a shower pan is not covered. That seems absurd to me. There is no way we could have known there was a leak until we saw the wood warping. Should our insurance claim be covered?

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The 2016 Windstorm Insurance Conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans was a huge success with 850 in attendance. The annual event is all about the best of the best in the property insurance industry that volunteer their time to teach and educate attendees on the latest trends. As a side benefit, the networking with leaders in their field is incalculable. Unlike many other forums around the country, this is the only one I am aware of where you encounter three or four faculty in a workshop all representing a different perspective.  Got questions, ask the panel--no issue or questions are off limits.
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