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Hurricane and Tropical Storm Eta caused intense flooding with 13 inches of rainfall and storm surge along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Eta also prompted flash flooding, road closures, and water rescues as it moved across the state into the Carolinas. I know a few of the folks who experienced flooding in their homes on Davis Island, Florida, where I race sailboats in my spare time.
Continue Reading My Home Flooded During Tropical Storm Eta: What Do I Do?

Hurricane and Tropical Storm Eta has left a flood claims hangover from Florida throughout the Carolinas. Since the National Flood Insurance program administrators appear to be stingy and failing to watch out for their fellow Americans by not granting flood proof of loss extensions, policyholders need to get started properly filing their claims right away.
Continue Reading Storm Eta Leaves a Flood Claim Hangover and Do Not Forget Lake Charles — Tune In For Friday at 2 PM

The National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) permits an insured to file a supplemental Proof of Loss that adds or changes an earlier submitted version. To be valid, the supplemental Proof of Loss must be filed within 60 days of the loss. No exception allows the insured to submit a supplemental Proof of Loss after the 60 days, even if the insured later determines that the flood damage it sustained exceeds the amount stated in the original Proof of Loss.
Continue Reading Can an Insured Submit a Supplemental Flood Proof of Loss If the Insurer Has Already Paid the Initial Proof of Loss?

The Tampa Bay Times ran an excellent story, Hurricane Michael Destroyed Their Homes Then The Insurance Heartache Began, which tells a sad but familiar theme about insurance company denials and delayed payments following hurricane losses. I was quoted in the piece:

Chip Merlin, a Tampa insurance lawyer, said the same conflict happened in the last 15 years after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ike. He said companies try to avoid making payment even when a slab is all that’s left of a property, as is the case in much of Mexico Beach.

‘Typically you have the strongest wind speeds come first, and then the storm surge follows it,’ Merlin said. Both cause damage. But residents and their attorneys, he said, may need to pay meteorologists and engineers to prove that flood and wind are to blame, and how much.
Continue Reading Wind Versus Water Causing Insurance Payment Delays? The Sad Song Remains The Same For Michael Victims as In Other Storms

If you’ve read my recap from Day 1 of the National Flood Conference, you’ll know that there was a lot to discuss from Day 1. Days 2 & 3 were a bit less eventful, and largely more geared towards flood insurance agents and lenders. As with Day 1, there were often several courses running concurrently, so the below is my recap of those that I attended.
Continue Reading National Flood Conference – An Insider’s Perspective, Days 2 & 3

Flood insurance claims governed by the National Flood Insurance Program are different. The requirements to get paid are strict and must be complied with. Many inexperienced attorneys and public adjusters prepare these claims improperly and the result is that policyholders do not get paid or paid as much as they otherwise deserve. Federal proofs of loss have to be completed fully, properly, and on time.
Continue Reading Partial Flood Proofs of Loss Requesting Only Items In Dispute Are Losers In Flood Claims

In July, 2016, what has been called a 200-to-500 year thunderstorm dropped between five and seven inches of rain in a two-hour period in Princeton, New Jersey. The heavy rain fall resulted in water pooling at the bottom of a stairwell below street level, next to a salon’s glass door entrance.
Continue Reading Even If You Don’t Live in a Flood Prone Area, You May Want a Flood Risk Policy in Place