September 5, 2013 Manitou business owners wade through muck to assess losses More than 20 businesses suffered losses from the flood that swept through Manitou Springs on Friday and owners say some may not reopen for up to two weeks as they clean up damage. Many of the shops in the 700 block of Manitou Avenue and…
September 5, 2013 Lack of insurance an issue after Manitou flood Many of the businesses in Manitou Springs that suffered losses in Friday’s devastating flood didn’t have flood insurance because they couldn’t get it for their location or couldn’t afford it, said an official from iManitou, the city’s chamber of commerce, economic development office and visitor’s…
August 26, 2013 Flood Insurance Workshop To Be Held Monday Night Devastating flooding in the Pikes Peak region has hammered home the importance of having flood insurance. So many people in El Paso and Teller counties have been suffered–in some cases again and again–after an especially harsh monsoonal pattern season. Those living near the Waldo Canyon…
August 14, 2013 Slack demand, but big promise still seen for Hurricane Sandy insurance mediation One of New Jersey’s efforts to help Hurricane Sandy victims resolve their insurance woes has had an unexpected result: few takers. Three months ago, the state launched a mediation program to help Sandy-struck homeowners and business owners settle disputes with their insurers over storm claims.…
August 5, 2013 DON’T BOTHER…DO BOTHER When buying rental car insurance: Don’t bother checking the “yes” box and paying for Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) coverage if you’ve got a credit card that offers that same coverage. Most credit cards provide that insurance to their cardholders free of charge as long as…
July 31, 2013 Legal issues just beginning for Sandy victims, pro-bono attorney says Hurricane Sandy is long over, with reconstruction under way in most places, but for many impacted by the storm, problems are still piling up – legal problems, that is. That is why a cadre of pro-bono attorneys has fanned out throughout areas of New Jersey…
July 31, 2013 FEMA to Buy Out One Home on Old York Road The township is changing its agreement with the NJDEP Blue Acres Program for the purchase and demolition of two homes on Old York Road along the Raritan River Floodway—because only one is now being accepted into the program.This program concerns the buy-out and demolition of…
July 31, 2013 Businesses pushing to settle claims from Sandy Linda Schwartz had been running her Mexican restaurant for 29 years when it became a casualty of Hurricane Sandy.Schwartz waited out the storm in her Dennis Township home, confident that she had done what she could to safeguard her Avalon business, Tortilla Flats, by moving…
July 24, 2013 Insuring yourself against water calamity can make your head spin On the other side of the country, home after home is rotting, left much the same as the day after Hurricane Sandy landed in 2012. These are the houses of those who never bought flood insurance, which must be purchased separately from regular homeowner’s insurance.…
July 23, 2013 Flood insurance law hurting Sandy victims A little-known provision in some Long Island homeowners’ flood insurance policies could stymie their claims to collect for superstorm Sandy damage. Advocates and lawyers for property owners say it’s a loophole for insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is based on semantics.…
July 8, 2013 Toomey, Menendez clash on flood insurance WASHINGTON – A debate over the federal flood insurance program sparked cross-river crossfire today, with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez clashing with Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey over a plan to hold down premiums. Toomey, using procedural rules, blocked a plan to delay federal…
July 1, 2013 Insurance Policyholder Advocate Gets Sandy Grant More than five months after superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, some owners of damaged homes, cars and businesses are still waiting for insurance settlements. Last week, a California-based advocacy group for insurance policyholders was awarded a small grant that could help them resolve their…
June 11, 2013 2 Problems = Zero Money: The Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause When disaster strikes it seems to happen all at once. Electric lines spark, windows shatter, roofs tear off, sump pumps stop and the lights go out. Homeowners see it this way. Insurance companies — and often the courts — see it differently. Major disasters such…
April 22, 2013 Flood insurance lawsuit aimed at ‘basement’ definition A federal lawsuit accusing insurance companies of unfairly denying flood claims could have broad ramifications for Long Islanders who were denied coverage because their first floors were classified as basements. The class-action suit, filed in Newark, says insurers are wrongly refusing to pay for flood-damaged…
April 17, 2013 Sandy-struck homeowners face delay in cashing insurance checks Homeowners across Long Island are struggling with the cost of rebuilding from superstorm Sandy as they wait for banks and mortgage companies to release their insurance settlements more than two months after the storm. Insurers began cutting checks weeks ago, but most people can’t simply…
March 19, 2013 It’s Flood Season. Are You Protected? Spring is a favorite season for many, but people who have seen their house swept away in a flood probably feel that summer droughts and blizzards get a bad rap. Thanks to heavy rains and melting snow, March and April are months particularly prone to…
March 12, 2013 Lessons for Staten Islanders navigating the insurance maze As they stare down drawn-out battles over insurance settlements and uncertain coverage for the future, Staten Islanders might look to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — a storm that cost insurance companies a record $41 billion — to hazard a guess at what’s to come.…