Months After Sandy, Insurance Still Not an Answer
Residents of Union Beach met with Rep. Frank Pallone on Tuesday to air grievances about insurance.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone addresses Union Beach residents Tuesday.
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Randall Kidd’s story isn’t unique.
A Union Beach resident, he’s faithfully paid into the National Flood Insurance Program for years, insuring his home against the kind of flood damage caused by Hurricane Sandy with a $217,000 policy he hoped would make him whole.
After his home was destroyed by the late October storm, Kidd set about filling out the appropriate paperwork, meeting with adjusters who came in from out of state and waiting for the check to arrive so he could start to work. Finally, the check did come, but for $89,000, less than half of what contractors have told him it will cost to rebuild his home.
In a crowded conference room at Union Beach’s municipal building, Kidd and other area residents met to find an answer, or at least relate tales to U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6, of their personal on-going sagas with the insurance. Whether residents have yet to receive insurance payouts, have been unable to reach representatives from the flood insurance program, or, like Kidd, have gotten checks substantially less than what they believe they were promised, there’s a consensus: the flood insurance program just isn’t working for Sandy’s victims.
“The reason I think this is outrageous, and I really think that the problems that we have are unacceptable, (is) because people have been paying into this flood insurance program for years,” Pallone said. “The reason you pay into it is that if there’s a hurricane or some other kind of natural disaster, you expect to be paid.
“All of a sudden, now, when we need the money, we don’t get the claims met.”
According to recent data from the State’s Department of Banking and Insurance, of those who have filed homeowners claims with their respective insurance companies, about 80 percent have been resolved. When it comes to flood insurance claims, however, only about 30 percent have been resolved.
A majority of homeowners insurance claims have been resolved in a positive fashion following Sandy, Gov. Chris Christie said at a recent press conference. Flood insurance claims, not so much. Banking and Insurance tracks complaints that come in regarding all types of insurance. For every one complaint the department has received about a homeowners claim not being satisfied after the storm, three have come in for flood insurance.
A significant concern with flood insurance, in addition to the poor payouts some residents have gotten, is the overwhelming delay that’s plagued the program since the storm. According to Pallone, many adjusters are responsible for upwards of 150 separate claims. The burden has grown so large that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which manages the flood insurance program, has eliminated preexisting response deadlines, leaving the process open and residents to wait an undetermined amount of time for resolution.
Kidd got his check, though he’ll likely have to appeal the amount. Susan Fouts in the same boat. Insured for the same $217,000, her check came in at $91,000, and, like Kidd’s, won’t be nearly enough to rebuild. Roughly $100,000 less than she and her husband need to build back to where they were, the insurance claim, essentially, is worthless.
Some still have yet to reach that point, mired in their own insurance limbo somewhere else down the line.
“I think the game is, after a while you’re going to get so frustrated you just walk away,” Union Beach resident Lowell Carhart said about the process he and his wife Rose have gone through just to contact an adjuster.
Though not an answer to the flood insurance problem, one both Pallone and Christie have vowed to have answered, funding options will become available shortly that will help residents struggling to cover the reconstruction shortfall they’re currently facing. Called Community Development Block Grants, the competitive grants will help residents rebuild and raise their homes, should residents not qualify for Increased Cost of Compliance funding or if it’s not enough to cover the entire cost.
Funded by a portion of the more than $60 billion Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill passed by Congress in January, the grants are part of a $1.8 billion chunk allocated specifically for the rebuilding homes and small businesses. Depending on need, more aid could become available, Christie has said.
Pallone was quick to dispel rumors that popped up as he spoke about the grant program. Some residents said they’ve heard funding won’t be available for a year, maybe two. That’s not the case, Pallone promised. The Governor’s office, along with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is meeting with mayors from municipalities throughout the state as early as next week to find out what the needs are of their respective towns.
Flood insurance needs to be dealt with, he said, but it won’t delay New Jersey’s ongoing rebuilding effort.
“If we don’t rebuild, people aren’t going to come back here, people are going to abandon their properties,” he said. “ We can’t allow that.”
Dan
7:01 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Thought Obama was going to clear all the red tape. Lot of unfixed problems still. Is he picking up the phone to put pressure on the flood insurance program? Don't hear much about it in national media anymore - but we sure heard about Katrina every day for 2 years didn't we?
OP resident
7:41 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
What is not mentioned in this article, is that after you receive your insurance check, the bank that holds your mortgage then "confiscates" your check and then "dictates" how you will spend it and who gets paid and when. We received our check over three weeks ago, and the only money we have received from it is a check written to our contractor for the amount he is due once he completes the job. We have yet to be reimbursed for the checks we have already given him or the materials we have paid for with credit cards. We are wracking up over $600.00 each month in interest alone on those credit cards, and our retired relatives are anxiously awaiting repayment for the money the lent us. Each day we call the bank, they give us a different reason for not sending us money we have already spent (well over $70,000!). It seems whether it is the nation flood insurance program or the banks, we are not going to get what has been promised to us in due time...... All the while our federal government and the fat cats on Wall Street make interest, hand over fist, on our misfortune and dispair!!!! SHAME ON THEM!!!!
Marjorie Smith
9:03 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
OP Resident - welcome to the new reality of bankers and insurance companies controlling our lives while Uncle Sam looks on in satisfied acquiescence.
OP resident
10:23 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Marjorie...ur right, except for the fact that national flood insurance IS the federal govt. ALL flood insurance is backed by FEMA. The insurance companies just act as go betweens. The Feds are are not just onlookers...they are active participants! Shame on Obama for even mentioning us here in the Northeast tonight in his speech! Our relatives in the Midwest are all under the impression we are back to life as usual here thanks to his masterful speeches and the lack of truthful media coverage. SHAME ON THEM ALL!!!
Bayville Mom
12:02 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
I agree OP I was waiting to hear ANYTHING about us. With exception of the story of the babies and nurse in NY there was no mention of any Sandy. Thought maybe something on help or aid or investigations into the bs with NFIP and the other insurance companies. very disappointing to say the least.
re-tired
11:29 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
This is the same shame pulled on social security ;all the money goes into general fed spending accounts. Then when it is needed the politicos try every trick in the book to make it hard for everyone to get the money. We are only borrowing our money back since the government will figure out some way to get more out of us .This is just what FEMA is doing with the "new" flood maps ! Everyone move to Newark and go on welfare .I think that's what the president wants to do to us !
SonOfLiberty
5:48 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
@Marjorie brings a relevant mindset to light. The notion that it is the "evil" Wall Street bankers and "corrupt" insurance companies that would rather see their policy holders suffer or die so they don't have to pay out on a claim.
The FACT of the matter is private insurance companies have paid out the vast majority of their claims already in a timely manner and have had the least number of complaints about them. It is the Federal Government backed and operated National Flood Insurance Program that is the problem. It is single-payer flood insurance!!!!
Folks are at the mercy, and I mean mercy, of the Federal Government whom they have to beg to receive what they have diligently contributed to. Then when the Feds decide to pony up money, it is with stipulations, they decide what criteria must be met for you to actually receive the funds at all in a lot of cases.
Private flood insurance was becoming cost prohibitive to the consumer and too much of a risk to the insurers, especially those that weren't very good at managing risk and could be over-exposed to an anomaly like Sandy. The Feds were more than happy to swoop in and now they OWN you if you need flood insurance.
This is the same exact path we are on with healthcare, but the sheeple of this country are blind to that fact as well. 50-75 years from now your kids or grandkids may be lobbying the feds to process that claim that helps keep you alive.
Flood insurance is the wake-up call folks....
Laura
8:10 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
We received our check from the insurance company in the first week of December. They finally paid up 50% of the amount yesterday (even though their assessor came and said 95% of the work has been completed). When the check came it was made payable to our contractor (even though we have paid him out of pocket). We are currently awaiting a new furnace which is on back order (hence the 5% not completed). We have racked up so much debt on our credit card, as all our money has been paying the contractor. This system is seriously floored. The banks will be making do much money from all of us who have been affected by Sandy. Shame on Wells Fargo!!!! These banks should be named & shamed for the appalling service they have provided!!!
Chief Wahoo
11:09 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
There is NO Money.
Wake up People !!!! It has been taken by the foreign banks , who are the enemy of Americans.
tom nemec
1:20 pm on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
I have personaly experienced general contractors over inflating their prices. They should be reported. Not to mention some are doing very poor work.
Karl
2:29 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
tom...They should be reported for very poor work...There is no such thing as an over inflating contractor if you agreed on a price.. You have some contractors out there that charge more than others, its up to you to decide if you want them to do your work. It has nothing to do with this storm...They just charge more....No one can tell another business how much they should charge their customers...you just don't go to their place or get someone else to do the job. Sometimes you get what you paid for.