Hurricane Francine made landfall at Terrebonne Parish in Louisiana yesterday at
around 5:00 p.m. with winds at 100 miles an hour. The storm has destroyed homes and
businesses and left nearly 500,000 people without power across Louisiana and
Mississippi. The storm also has dumped large amounts of rain, putting approximately 12
million people at risk of flooding. Insurance companies already are estimating that
Francine will cause over $1 billion in damage by the time everything is over.
Please be safe out there. Our hearts go out to all of those affected by the storm. Please
be careful about things like down power lines, submerged objects in the water and
contamination over the next few days. I know that power companies from across the
southeast will be sending out trucks and those brave power company employees will be
getting power restored as quickly as possible. In addition, President Biden has declared
If you need to make a flood insurance claim, the National Flood Insurance Program has
instructions here.
Filing a Homeowners or Commercial Property Claim
If you do have to file a claim, report the claim as soon as you are able. Make sure to
retain all damaged items until you are instructed IN WRITING that you may discard
them. (You don’t want this turning into a he said/she said down the road). Make sure to
take pictures and video documenting the damage and damaged items thoroughly. If you
can, gather up any pictures or videos showing the condition of your house or business
before the storm. Also, begin looking for receipts for large ticket items that have been
damaged or destroyed. If you can't find receipts and cannot recover them from a credit
card company, bank, or merchant, then look on the internet for the prices of comparable
items.
When your adjuster comes out, make sure to be present to point out all items of
damages. It also might be a good idea to have a witness present or even to record
video of the interaction to make sure that you can remember everything later. I've had
many cases where adjusters have made comments to my clients telling them that things
would be totaled or that they could go ahead and make certain repairs only for this
information not to make it into the insurance company's records.
When you do have to fill out a proof of loss form, do your best to be thorough and
include all of the items that you believe are damaged. However, do not guess and make
sure that you do not inflate the value of lost property or include items that should not be
covered.
Begin looking for contractors to provide estimates as soon as possible. If your home
needs to be dried out, contact remediation contractors as soon as possible. However,
before any work is done, make sure to get insurance approval. Demand for contractors
will be high and so you want to start as soon as possible. Make sure to hire only
licensed and bonded contractors though because sometimes unscrupulous contractors
will prey on hurricane victims.
When you get an estimate from the insurance company, don't be surprised if it is low. At
this point, you will want to submit your estimates to the insurance company to show
them what it will actually cost to do the work. Hopefully, your insurance company will
approve these estimates and let you get started on the work.
As always, if you need anything, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. I am Attorney Inge Johnstone and I'm licensed in Alabama, Texas and Washington and work with lawyers across the country.
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