Insurance 'nightmare' unfolds for Florida homeowners

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Insurance 'nightmare' unfolds for Florida homeowners after back-to-back hurricanes

Many victims facing catastrophic losses due to water damage “are just walking away.”

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Biden details aid, assistance for Florida after Hurricane Milton and Helene

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Oct. 13, 2024, 8:00 PM GMT+9

By Rob Wile

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/hurricane-milton-helene-insurance-nightmares-torment-florida-residents-rcna175088

Bridgette Bello thought she’d taken proper precautions to protect against Florida’s notorious hurricanes, having purchased flood insurance as well as a separate hurricane-specific policy, in addition to her regular homeowners coverage.

Yet nearly two weeks after Helene hit — and even before Milton had arrived — what Bello, 54, describes as an insurance “nightmare” has only begun. She said she already faces delays and denials on her damage claims.

“We did everything we were supposed to do,” said Bello, who lives near the barrier-island Madeira Beach community outside of Tampa. “We did everything to protect ourselves and protect our home.”

Fresh off the one-two punch of Helene and Milton, hurricane victims in Florida — even those with insurance — face a challenging recovery. The insurance industry is categorizing the storms as two separate events, meaning anyone who did not or could not document damage from Helene could face even greater odds that their claim will be denied if they were hit by both storms.

Meanwhile, reforms enacted in Florida to encourage insurance companies to re-enter the state market have ended up leaving victims with little legal recourse to challenge claims decisions.

“Most people are trying to maximize their damage estimate and looking for insurance companies to pay their claims,” said Rick Tutwiler, president of the claims adjusting firm Tutwiler & Associates. “A lot of people don’t know what they’re walking into.”

For the vast majority of affected residents, the financial loss from the storms will be nearly total. That’s because flooding caused much of the property damage — and most homeowners insurance policies do not cover any flood impact.

In the areas of Florida most affected by the storms, no more than 25% of residents had separate flood insurance prior to the storms hitting, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. government data. Flood insurance coverage was significantly lower in regions of lower Appalachia affected by Helene.

For those who do have insurance, the combination of the storms is set to create major complications.

SARASOTA, FL - OCTOBER 10: A resident cleans the front of his m

A resident cleans the front of his mobile home in Sarasota, Fla., on Thursday after Hurricane Milton.Eva Marie Uzcategui / The Washington Post - Getty Im

The insurance industry is categorizing Hurricane Helene as an almost entirely flood-driven event. While Hurricane Milton was both a wind and rain event, experts say property owners who lacked flood insurance may not be protected from water damage from Milton either, thanks to the way many insurance policies are written these days.“In a situation like this one, chances are very, very good that your insurer will deny your claim right out of the gate if you don’t have flood insurance,” said Amy Bach, executive director of consumer group United Policyholders.

Because so much of the damage from Helene came from flooding, losses that insurers are facing from that storm are projected to be “modest,” said Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications for the Insurance Information Institute, which represents the insurance industry.

It is too soon to tell how many homes could end up having claims from both Helene and Milton. But in such cases, Friedlander acknowledged it could be “challenging” to make determinations about which storm caused what — and thus what is owed.