If your Florida home was severely damaged by Hurricane Irma to the extent that it is uninhabitable to live in, your insurance policy may provide a coverage called “Additional Living Expense” or “A.L.E.” if it is a covered loss. Under the Additional Living Expense coverage, you and your family may be entitled to rent another home of the same size, like kind and quality as well as be reimbursed for any extra expenses you incur such as food and temporary lodging.

Various media outlets have been publishing articles (Florida is Short on Insurance Adjusters) (Hurricane Irma & Harvey causing Adjuster Shortage) on the shortage of insurance adjusters to handle the volume of claims that are being reported to both the government (FEMA) and the private sector insurance carriers. For those of us in the business we knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time. 

There is no escaping the property damage that Hurricane Irma will cause to some parts of Florida. This type of storm can throw off tornado activity and pockets of heavy wind gusts. As a result, thousands of homeowners may be contacting their insurance company to file an insurance claim. Resources are likely to be stretched and frustration with claims will grow as our public insurance adjusters have seen with past storms. We want everyone to stay safe and also be in a condition to recover as best they can.

If you experience property damage from Hurricane Irma, here are a few claim tips for filing your insurance claim that will make the process easier and possibly protect your claim from denial or other problems, especially if you have to evacuate:

Our hearts go out to all the folks in Texas and Louisiana affected by Hurricane Harvey 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, there is no doubt this event will rival Katrina and create insurance claim disputes unlike we’ve seen before. And if property damage wasn’t enough, the loss of power 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 being applied and many folks may be surprised that despite their wind or hurricane coverage, they may be out of pocket for the mitigation and replacement costs due to lack of flood coverage or exclusions for water - sewer back-up. 

With widespread property damage expected from Hurricane Harvey, many property owners will be seeking out assistance and advice for their property insurance damage claim. One of the most common questions we receive as these calls come into the office revolves around the benefits of hiring a public insurance adjuster. It still amazes us that so many policyholders have not heard of our profession or understand what public adjusters do. So while we try to educate and not blow our own horn, I’ll try to answer that question in hopes of giving readers a basic understanding of the benefits of hiring public adjusters and the role they play in the insurance claims process. 

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.

Fireworks are a great way to celebrate the holiday, but they can be dangerous and start dangerous fires that damage property and generate the insurance claim process. Leave lighting them to the pros. Inexperience with fireworks is an easy way to get burned or cause property damage. 

Some months back I received a call from a physician who was referred to me by an engineering firm we had worked with on a large project in Longboat Key, Florida that resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement. Not only was the client pleased with our work, but their engineer apparently was equally impressed given the kind words he shared with this physician about our work and the results we were able to achieve with previous claim. During my initial discussion with the physician on the phone, I told him it was unlikely we could prevail on his insurance claim based on the damages he described to me. The insurance industry had changed most policies to take away coverage that was previously available for what sounded to me like a collapse claim.  

The following is an insurance claim question we answered for a policyholder through the United Policyholders Ask an Expert Forum.

Q. Can I have a repair estimate reviewed and a new estimate prepared based on the estimate sent by my insurance adjusters estimate? They have issued a check in the amount of this estimate, less the deductible. What should I do with the check?