August 11, 2015 Springs renter hopes flooding nightmare can become lesson for others Annaleen DeHaan came home to a nightmare Monday evening. Her home on the east side of Colorado Springs was devastated by floodwater. “My mom calls me and is like, ‘So, the house flooded. I have a foot of mud and water,’” DeHaan said. “I kind…
July 6, 2015 Manitou takes a step to move city hall out of harm’s way Manitou Springs officials are trying to land a $25 million federal grant to move City Hall operations to a new building.Built in the laste 1800s, the exisiting facility is in a flood plain, the city’s flood recovery manager Shelley Cobau said Monday.A draft of the…
June 23, 2015 Appeals process for flood insurance claims needs work: Senate probe The U.S. government’s appeals process for reviewing flood insurance claim disputes is riddled with flaws, but there is no evidence of systematic underpayments by insurers to flood victims, an investigation by U.S. Senate staffers has found.”Despite widespread concerns, it does not appear that systematic incentives…
June 21, 2015 Flaws but no abuse, Senate finds in Superstorm Sandy flood insurance study, Reuters reports The Senate Banking Committee will release a report that calls the appeals process for federal flood insurance claims after Super Storm Sandy badly flawed, but also that it found no signs of systematic underpayments to victims, Reuters reports.”Despite widespread concerns, it does not appear that…
June 17, 2015 Capitol Pressroom Amy Bach, the executive director of United Policyholders, looks at a report that shows property insurers have reaped higher-than-average profits in New York State despite losses from major weather events like Superstorm Sandy. Bach argues New York insurance law is crafted in a way that…
June 15, 2015 FEMA re-opens claims, but some Sandy victims say ‘no thanks A few weeks ago, FEMA sent out 146,000 letters to homeowners who were possible victims of Sandy-related flood insurance fraud, offering to reevaluate their damage awards and make them whole. That’s a lot of people with a lot of money at stake.FEMA is also offering…
June 10, 2015 Flood program must focus more on needs of disaster victims, new chief says The newly appointed director of the National Flood Insurance Program said the organization needs to focus more on the welfare of disaster victims and rethink gaps in coverage that bedeviled homeowners after superstorm Sandy. Roy Wright, who takes over the federal program next week, said…
June 4, 2015 After Texas Floods, A New Test for FEMA’s Beleaguered National Flood Insurance Program Less than 48 hours after torrential rains flooded parts of Houston in late May, AJ Culembourg found herself ripping up floor boards inside the rental property she and her husband remodeled 18 months ago. Flood waters had reached as high as 18 inches inside the…
May 26, 2015 FEMA To Allow Superstorm Sandy Victims To Review Flood Claims FEMA is mailing letters to more than 140,000 Superstorm Sandy victims. The letters ask if they want their flood insurance claim to be reviewed. This comes after months of scrutiny and accusations that the private insurance companies who help run the federal flood program shortchanged…
May 20, 2015 Letters go out to Sandy victims who want to reopen claims The National Flood Insurance Program began mailing letters to superstorm Sandy victims Monday to start the process of reviewing thousands of claims that may have been underpaid after the 2012 disaster.The first round of roughly 15,000 notices are going to homeowners whose properties were inspected…
May 18, 2015 FEMA will reopen Superstorm Sandy claims this week United Policyholders’ Executive Director Amy Bach talks with radio journalist Maggie Glynn of Magic 98.3 in New Jersey about the devastating woes still facing many Sandy victims. Bach and Glynn discuss what went wrong insurance-wise after Sandy, the reopen process, and the resources available on…
May 14, 2015 Why Sandy Homeowners Were Left In The Lurch Superstorm Sandy’s storm surge was so strong when it hit Long Island in October 2012 that it lifted up Dan Stapleton’s Long Beach home and then kicked in the corner of the foundation. It left a 30-foot hole around his house. Stapleton, unlike many Sandy…
May 11, 2015 Fed Probe Why Sandy Victims Were Shortchanged on Flood Insurance Claims Critics call for wide-ranging, structural reforms to ensure problems encountered after Sandy don’t happen again Amid the stress and confusion in the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, residents of coastal communities found themselves struggling to comprehend their losses and how to begin to put things…
May 11, 2015 The List: 10 Reasons Why Insurance Companies May Have Underpaid Sandy Victims Theories abound in the absence of clear information about just what went on behind the scenes in the aftermath of disastrous storm In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, many insurance policyholders were denied coverage after engineering reports determined that their damage supposedly pre-existed the storm…
May 9, 2015 FEMA mulls overhaul of flood insurance program amid claims of fraud, lack of oversight Lawmakers and federal officials trying to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program are considering dismantling a sprawling system that relies on more than 80 separate companies to sell policies, collect premiums and calculate damages after disasters. The move, in response to allegations that claims were…
April 29, 2015 Hurricane Sandy Judges Demand Clearing of Settlement Roadblocks Federal officials and flood insurance companies were chastised by a panel of New York judges for imposing delays on settlements with hundreds of Hurricane Sandy victims who alleged their claims were wrongfully denied or underpaid.Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and lawyers for 25…
April 28, 2015 Roadmap to Preparedness UPdate THRIVE-ing after a flood After a winter storm caused severe flooding south of San Francisco, UP answered evacuees’ insurance questions at a temporary shelter and help center in San Mateo, California. Several months later at a Enhancing Community Resilience Conference hosted by the THRIVE alliance…
April 22, 2015 Tampered Engineering Reports Only the Beginning for Sandy Victims As a general contractor who specializes in insurance repairs, Larry Steimel with Pequannock, NJ-based LA Design and Construction has had a front row seat to some of the problems people have had rebuilding their homes. The biggest hurdle after Sandy, he says, has been the…