Katrina - Bad Weather

"Insurers descend upon region
Thousands of claims expected

By Kathy Bushouse Business Writer Posted August 27 2005

Teams of insurance adjusters are on their way to South Florida to handle the thousands of homeowner and automobile claims expected as the cleanup from Hurricane Katrina begins. Some companies, such as state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and Allstate Floridian Insurance Co., are sending mobile units to the hardest-hit areas to start processing claims, though locations for those units weren't determined as of Friday night. Other insurers, such as State Farm Florida Insurance Co. and Nationwide Insurance Co. of Florida, are dispatching adjusters from their South Florida offices.

And all insurers are still tracking Katrina, which reemerged in the Gulf of Mexico after battering South Florida on Thursday and Friday. She was a Category 2 on Friday evening and expected today to become a Category 3 storm taking aim at the Florida Panhandle, already smacked by two hurricanes in one year. Companies said they could take the double hit, should Katrina become the third hurricane to slam the Panhandle. "If there's damage in both areas, we'll have people in both areas as long as it takes to get the claims settled," said Tom Hagerty, a State Farm Florida spokesman.Flooded homes and cars are expected to make up the majority of claims that insurers will receive in South Florida, though Katrina's 80 mph winds also caused some roof and other structural damage. Early estimates have pegged insured losses from $600 million to $2 billion.Anita Byer, president of Setnor Byer Insurance and Risk in Plantation, said her agency received nearly 100 phone calls by Friday afternoon. The reports: "A lot, a lot of flooding," downed fences and felled signs, Byer said.As of 3 p.m., Citizens, the largest insurer in South Florida, had 1,226 claims filed from Miami-Dade County and 291 claims from Broward County. There are approximately 500,000 Citizens policyholders from Palm Beach to Monroe counties, said company spokesman Justin Glover.State Farm, Allstate and Nationwide didn't have claims information available Friday afternoon. That should change once electricity and telephone service is restored.Initial reports from adjusters in the field are to expect "a good mix of auto and property claims," said Ryan Priest, an Allstate Floridian spokesman.But initial loss estimates don't include flood, which is covered by the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program. A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the flood insurance program, said losses from Katrina could be on par with 1999's Hurricane Irene, which hit Broward and Palm Beach counties after making landfall in southwest Florida and caused more than $100 million in flood losses.If your home is flooded, make sure to take pictures and collect as much evidence -- taking swatches of wet carpets and upholstery, for instance -- of damage as you can before cleaning up, said Butch Kinerney, a FEMA spokesman.Also, if you are returning home after taking shelter, make sure to check the structural safety of your home before entering, Kinerney said. When you're ready to make a claim, call your insurance agent or company. Don't call FEMA -- they don't take flood claims directly, Kinerney said. For now, many of Katrina's victims must simply wait for an adjuster. And the time between a damage report and the adjuster's visit can be maddening.Lisa Remeny of Coconut Grove is awaiting a Citizens adjuster to assess the damage that a neighbor's 90-foot ficus tree did to the carriage house on her property. The tree fell on the second story and water poured in, making the house uninhabitable, Remeny said.Her neighbor's insurance will cover the repairs, but Remeny said she was told it would take 72 business hours before an adjuster will contact her. "

Now they really will have FEMA Insurance claims. Last year, FEMA paid more to Miami-Dade in FEMA hurricane money than it did to the surrounding areas. When they checked into it the realized that the Hurricanes didn't strike Miami-Dade last year.