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
2017 wasn’t the best year for Houston Texas. Due to the unprecedented rain fall that occurred during Hurricane Harvey, the Barker Reservoir and the Addicks Reservoir—both located off of Highway 6 in Houston—quickly filled to their maximum capacity. In an effort to protect the greater Houston area from experiencing even worse flood inundation, the US … Continue Reading
Hurricane Harvey flooding impacted Texas property owners (i) with sufficient flood insurance to cover the loss, (ii) with insufficient flood insurance to cover the loss, and (iii) without flood insurance. This three-part series outlines the differences in the rights of these property owners and the different avenues to recovery. My previous post was Hurricane Harvey … Continue Reading
Beginning on August 9, 2016 and lasting through August 31, 2016, numerous parishes in Southeast Louisiana1 experienced prolonged, torrential rainfall and flooding. By the end of the days-long Great Flood event of 2016, several states were included in disaster declarations due to the same weather system. Though flooding to this extent is usually associated with … Continue Reading
Hurricane Irma: If you are a homeowner, business owner, or renter affected by Hurricane Irma, you still may be able to receive certain benefits through the Federal Emergency Management Agency “FEMA” if you are uninsured or underinsured.… Continue Reading
Federal Code and Regulations typically require that Proofs of Loss for National Flood Insurance claims be filed within 60 days following the loss. They have to be done completely and on time. The only exception is a written waiver from the Administrator of the National Flood Insurance Program. Please find the written extension here. Our … Continue Reading
After receiving a Bestwire News Report that indicated a Homeland Security Inspector concluded that "Write Your Own" Insurance Companies did not overpay flood claims following Hurricane Katrina, I waded through the 48 page report to find out why the Inspector came to that conclusion. As I have said in earlier blog posts, flood adjusters paid and paid and paid some … Continue Reading
Two recurrent issues are keeping policyholders from full recovery following disasters. First, policyholders are not getting flood insurance even though it is available. Second, policyholders are not increasing the limits of coverage to reflect the full costs of construction or replacement. They are exposed to the risk of being significantly under-insured. … Continue Reading
If another hurricane the size of Katrina or stronger strikes a metropolitan area this summer or fall, I am certain that we will have a repeat of the litigation and problems associated with Katrina. On May 8, the United States Senate voted against increasing the role of the National Flood Insurance Program to include coverage … Continue Reading
