Hurricane Sandy insurance review begins

The first of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Hurricane Sandy flood insurance claims review letters has gone out. FEMA is offering over 144,000 homeowners, who held flood policies during Sandy and felt they did not receive enough money, a chance to have their file reviewed.

Homeowners were underpaid as a result of engineering reports that misstated the extent of their damages. Many victims still haven’t been fully reimbursed for their losses due to Sandy. The deputy associate administrator, Brad Kieserman, said the letters would only be going out to those homeowners who did not challenge their claims in court. The initial reviews will focus on about 15,000 homeowners who had engineering reports done.

A request for review must be submitted within 90 days of receipt of the letter via a phone number or web site. Reviewers are available in multiple languages, and for those using TTY.

Policyholders need to have their flood insurance carrier name; policy number at date of loss; date of loss; the address of property that was damaged; and current mailing address and telephone number.

A caseworker that is a highly skilled NFIP-certified insurance adjuster will be assigned to work to review the file, examine any additional information submitted, coordinate inspections by an adjuster or engineer (if required), and determine if the NFIP should make any additional payments for losses covered under a Standard Flood Insurance Policy. Once request is submitted, it should take the caseworker less than 90 days to complete the review.

If the homeowner doesn’t agree with the outcome of the caseworker review, they will have the opportunity to request that an expert neutral third party review the file to help resolve the claim. This neutral party will then make a recommendation to FEMA about your claim. FEMA says it will give substantial weight to the neutral party’s recommendation.

If the final review supports additional payment under the policy, then the insurance company will issue a check for the additional funds. If the policyholder has already received the full amount of the maximum under their policy, or are in litigation they do not qualify for the review.

The letter and review do not change the policy including the one-year limit to file suit after being denied by an insurance company.

The review may find an overpayment, in which case money will be back to the government. In addition New York Rising and the Department of Housing and Urban Development may consider any additional monies a homeowner receives a duplication of funds.

 For additional information on the Hurricane Sandy Claims Review, visit 

www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-nfip-claims or call 1-866-337-4262.