Flood Damage

The damage left by a hurricane can be devastating, with the mix of water, mud, toxic molds, electrical problems, and perhaps also fire damage. You may have to replace not just the carpeting and wallboard, the washer and dryer, refrigerator, water heater and furnace – there may be structural damage too.

Defining Flood Damage
A homeowner’s policy or condo owner’s policy will cover most types of water damage, but usually not flood damage. Flood damage is covered under a separate policy, and perhaps you have both of these policies. Disputes often turn on the determination of whether damage is from “flood” or from “water”. There’s a strict legal definition for what a flood is.

If your insurance company is refusing payment because your property damage was caused by “flood”, we can help by checking into that. We can investigate the damage and if we find – for example – that it was caused by a broken water pipe, that is not “flood damage”, and we can fight to obtain a fair payment for you.

If you carry both hurricane insurance and flood insurance, you might have felt confident of being able to pay for any future devastation. However, a problem often arises where:

• The flood insurer refuses to pay on the basis that the damage is caused by the hurricane
• The hurricane insurer refuses to pay on the basis that the damage is caused by flood

We can help you negotiate through that and overcome the problem.

Appraisal Problems
If your insurance company has determined a low value for your property damage, for whatever reason, that can leave you with inadequate funds to restore it. Please contact us if you think that your insurer is dealing unfairly with you. After a hurricane, insurance companies endure a second flood – of damage claims. Your situation may have been incorrectly evaluated or mistakenly recorded and reported. We can help with that, and set things straight.

Some Relevant Facts

• One inch of water can cause expensive property damage
• Flash floods often come in water walls ten to twenty feet high
• Two feet of water can carry off your vehicle
• If new land development interferes with natural runoff channels, it can increase flood risks
• Federal disaster assistance usually consists of a loan with interest and can cost you far more than flood insurance. For example, a federal loan of $50,000 at 4% interest will require monthly payments of about $240 for 30 years. On the other hand, a $100,000 flood insurance policy will cost about $33 per month.
• A flood insurance policy does not take effect until 30 days after it is purchased. Therefore it’s important to buy it before any hurricane hits, or any flood water begins rising.

Please see our Hurricane Information Resources Page for links to other helpful organizations. There is also more information on assorted topics on our Hurricane Questions and Answers page.

Having paid your premiums month after month, you are entitled to fair dealing and proper claim payments. If you feel you are being given less than that, please call us or send us an email. We can give you a free consultation and start to determine whether you might have a valid legal claim. Our office serves all of Florida. Se habla español.