Hurricane Harvey started with sustained 130 mph winds and a seven-foot storm surge and it also has dumped trillions of gallons of water onto the city of Houston that is enough to fill the Great Salt Lake twice over. It also soak much of Louisiana into midweek that caused massive flooding. Homeowners maybe wondering how to file a claim and if they have enough coverage to repair and rehabilitate their destroyed, flooded homes.
What you should do?
1. Homeowners shoudl call their insurers as soon as possible to start the process of filing a claim. After contacting your insurer, an adjuster will contact the homeowner to schedule a visit to the location of the insured property and inspect the damage. Adjusters will start by visiting areas that experienced the most severe damage once they are allowed by emergency officials.
2. Make sure you have prepared a thorough list of your property that has been destroyed and damaged. You will need to give purchase receipts or estimate how much the belongings cost and when you bought them.
Take photographs and record video of every area of your home and property for documentation.
3. Don't throw anything away without checking with your insurer first. You'll likely need to show that damaged items were impacted by the storm.
4. If your home is severely damaged and uninhabitable that you need to check in a hotel, keep the reciepts including your transportation and meals. People with wind damage coverage are eligible for reimbursement for additional living expenses. Flood insurance, however, does not cover these expenses.
5. Once you report your claim be sure you get your claim number and write it down this will help insurers locate your file quickly and keep things on track when you speak to customer representatives.
6. Avoid fraudulent contracts! Major catastrophes like Harvey can be a boon for fraudulent contractors. The fraudsters go from home to home offering to do repairs. Always get a written estimate and not rush into signing repair contracts. You can also ask your insurer, since most insurers will have a reliable network of repairers.
Never pay anyone upfront!!! It is an immediate red flag if they ask for payment before the work is completed
What if insurance companies refuse to pay claims?
“60 Minutes” had an episode titled “The Storm After The Storm” after Super Storm Sandy. They tackled the issue of “wide scale fraud where original damage reports were later changed to make it look like the damage wasn’t as bad.” Similar reports were released following Hurricane Katrina documenting wind vs. water cases. Wind vs. water cases consist of engineering reports that intentionally misidentify damage as caused by water rather than the true cause, wind.
Finding that home damage was caused by floodwaters rather than wind is significant for the private insurance industry. The significance is that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed and underwritten by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. This means private insurers are not on the hook for the losses caused by flooding.
If you don’t get the service that you expected from your insurance company you should
file a Consumer Complaint with your state insurance department.
Important things to note:
Flood insurance - Home insurance doesn’t cover flooding. You’ll need to buy a separate flood insurance policy, which takes 30 days to take effect. If a hurricane strikes within that 30-day window, your policy won’t pay for flood damage to your home or belongings.
Windstorm insurance - Many homeowners policies include coverage for wind, especially if you don’t live in a hurricane-prone coastal state, so you might not need to buy additional insurance. However, coastal states like Texas and Florida you’re more likely to need separate wind insurance.
Auto insurance - Comprehensive car insurance pays to fix damage to your car from flooding, hail and other nasty weather.
For more information about Flood Insurance visit FEMA
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