On Year Anniversary of Hurricane Irma
On the One Year Anniversary of Hurricane Irma
Where are we now?
You only have a limited time to submit a claim, submit a supplemental claim or reopen your claim.
It is hard to believe that we are at the one year anniversary of Hurricane Irma. I remember evacuating to Tennessee with my family to avoid being directly hit. Irma was a Cape Verde hurricane that reached category 5 and made seven landfalls, four of which occurred while the hurricane was a category 5. When Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys, it was a category 4 and when it struck southwestern Florida is was a category 3. Irma has made history as being one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes on record in the Atlantic. Irma made landfall near Marco Island, Florida on September 10, 2017 with estimated maximum wind speeds of 100 knots or 115 miles per hour. As it moved up the coast east of Naples and Ft. Myers on September 11, 2017 it weakened to a category 2. When it passed between Tampa and Orlando it had weekend to a category 1 storm. The storm caused Florida to experience storm surge levels of 6 to 10 feet above ground level. Interestingly, because of off shore winds on the northern side of Irma, these winds initially blew water away from the Florida coast and caused water levels to drop to a minimum of 4.8 feet. Once the center of the storm moved north of Naples, the winds shifted and water levels increased to 9 feet. Significant flooding occurred in downtown Miami, along the banks of the St. Johns River, and storm surge continued along the coast of Georgia and much of South Carolina.
Significant rainfall also became an issue. The maximum reported rainfall due to the storm was near Ft. Pierce, Florida which recorded 21.66 inches of rain between September 9, 2017 and September 12, 2017. Heavy rains of 6 to 10 inches were recorded across the Florida Keys and rivers across Florida recorded record flood stages. The St. Johns River set a record flood stage at many locations causing major flooding in Jacksonville, Florida. Irma also produced 25 confirmed tornadoes, 21 of which were in Florida. The majority of these tornadoes occurred along the east coast of central Florida and in the northern portion of Florida. Irma caused 47 direct deaths with a majority being in the Caribbean Islands. In the United States, 10 direct deaths were reported and an additional 82 indirect deaths occurred, 77 of these were in Florida. A majority of the structures in Everglades City suffered major wind and/or water damage, at least 88 buildings were destroyed and 1,500 buildings were badly damaged. In Miami, it is estimated that 1,000 homes had major damage and 50% of the agricultural industry was damaged. In Brevard County, more than 7,000 homes sustained damage which included 450 that were destroyed or had major damage. Around the Orlando area, it is estimated that 4,000 structures were damaged and flooding was the biggest issue in northern Florida.
According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, the number of residential property claims totaled 839,570 with 63,928 still left open and 262,275 of those closed as not paid. There were 59,987 commercial property claims with 15,427 still open and 25,195 closed as unpaid. If you count all of the claims reported to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation that were reported as not paid, the total is 311,550. The total number of claims still open is 82,449. The total estimated insured losses stands at $10,455,503,448.00.
What if you are one of the 311,550 claims that were not paid? What if you are one of the 82,449 that are still open? If you are one of these statistics, you have options. Florida provides that you have five years from the date of denial of your claim to file suit in Florida for breach of your insurance contract if you believe that the insurance company has improperly denied your claim. Even if you believe that your claim was properly denied, there may be a possibly of recovery. Allow us to complete a free claims review and determine if the insurance company was correct. If you are one the claims that still remain open, don’t let the insurance company continue to stall your claim any longer. Call us for a free evaluation so we can assist you in getting your claim moving to a resolution.
If you haven’t filed a claim, you should be aware that Florida Statute Section 627.70132 provides for notice of windstorm or hurricane claims. The statute provides as follows:
A claim, supplemental claim, or reopened claim under an insurance policy that
provides property insurance, as defined in s. 624.604, for loss or damage caused
by the peril of windstorm or hurricane is barred unless notice of the claim,
supplemental claim, or reopened claim was given to the insurer in accordance with
the terms of the policy within 3 years after the hurricane first made landfall or the windstorm caused the covered damage. For purposes of this section, the term “supplemental claim” or “reopened claim” means any additional claim for recovery
from the insurer for losses from the same hurricane or windstorm which the insurer has previously adjusted pursuant to the initial claim. This section does not affect any applicable limitation on civil actions provided in s. 95.11 for claims, supplemental claims, or reopened claims timely filed under this section.
So based on the above statute, you must make a claim, a supplemental claim or seek to reopen your claim within 3 years after hurricane Irma first made landfall or Irma caused damage to your property. This means that now that we are one year in, you only have an additional two years to make a claim, supplemental claim or seek to reopen your claim or you will not be allowed to bring a claim later. Based on this, don’t wait. If you think you have a claim, you need to submit it to the insurance company to prevent being barred from ever submitting one. If you need assistance submitting the claim, call us and we will be glad to help. If you believe you have additional damage that the insurance company originally missed or once you began repairs, you found additional damage that no one could see, you need to submit a supplemental claim to get that covered. If your claim is closed, and you found additional damage, you need to asked that your claim be reopened within this time frame.
Christopher Ligori & Associates is always available to assist you, give you a free claim evaluation or answers any questions you may have. The bottom line is don’t wait to act because if you wait too long, you may not be able to submit a claim at all.