State data shows that insurance companies have paid more than $3 billion for Sandy-related claims and that number is expected to increase. Bernie Flynn, CEO & President of New Jersey Manufacturers (NJM) told NJ Today Senior Correspondent Desirée Taylor that his company has received 56,000 claims and has processed and resolved 99 percent of them.
“We’ve paid out in excess of $266 million to our policyholders,” said Flynn.
For NJM policyholders who suffered flood damage, Flynn says the company is covered by the national flood insurance program. “Almost $250 million has been paid out to those policyholders and 99 percent of those claims have been resolved,” he said.
There have published reports that 1 out of 4 claims resulted in no insurance payment. Flynn says that’s because Hurricane Sandy was a primarily a flood event.
“Flood is not covered by the homeowner’s policy so if someone came and put in a claim and that was flood damage, that would be denied typically with a letter,” Flynn said. ‘If they did not have flood insurance, they would be able to access FEMA for relief or some of the community development block grants that will be available to individual homeowners for assistance, and there’s also private money available. So the hope is that those individuals who suffered severe damage, who had gaps in coverage primarily due to flood loss will eventually receive sufficient funds in order to rebuild and get their lives back together.”
Hurricane season starts this weekend on Saturday. Flynn urges homeowners to prepare now before the hurricane season gets into full gear.
“The hurricane season begins June 1 and ends November 30, so we are back on that cycle where we will be watching the weather in the tropics,” he said. “Now we don’t expect that any hurricane would come up the coast until the July time frame, so it’s critically important now that individuals out there who could be subject to flood damage secure flood insurance or at least consider and evaluate whether they need flood insurance. so the time is now for folks to prepare for the heart of the hurricane season.”
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