Hurricane Dolly

Every hurricane as a similar issue: wind vs. wave. How this issue plays is determined by how much money is at stake and successful the industry believes it will be in transferring exposure from the casualty policy to the flood policy. Hurricane Katrina is the classic example. Immediately following Katrina, the industry began floating positions about the large extent of flooding associated with this storm. The mantra was flood, Flood, FLOOD and FLOOD. No amount of evidence to the contrary dissuaded them from their position. The industry hired a cadre of experts to support their position and began denying (rather successfully I might add) claims that might otherwise have been paid. Why do I say this?

Most people mistakenly believe that property insurance policies insure property. Truth is they don’t. They insure people. The property is simply the subject of that insurance. This affords the insurance company the freedom to decide which risks it wants to indemnify the policyholder against and which it does not. Guess what? Flood or should I say FLOOD is one of those risks it does not wish to insure against.

In Katrina a lot of properties were damaged by flood. A lot of those same properties were also damaged by wind. This of course raises yet another issue: chicken and egg. If flooding preceded the wind the insurance company has a very strong argument to limit the loss other wise payable. If wind is first on the scene if becomes increasingly difficult to attribute damage to flood.

The weather channel tonight stated there was a significant number of damaged roofs and broken windows. They also mentioned flooding. No comparisons were made with Katrina.

Now consider this: lets say hypothetically that Hurricane Dolly damages a roof and breaks a window or two or three. Water enters the house through the damaged roof and broken windows: a lot of water. Imagine a fire hose pointing at your house in a hundred mile per hour wind. How much water to you think would enter a broken window.

That water is going to saturate the property in short order. Much if not all of the interior finishes, fixtures and personal property are going to be significantly damaged if not considered a total loss. Now flooding occurs. My question is this: how has the flooding caused any more damage?

It hasn’t. The proximate cause of the damage is wind and the insurance company not Federal Flood should be paying the loss.

If your home was damaged by Dolly, take good photographs. Pay particular attention to broken windows and damaged roofs. Inside your home document any damage that appears to originate above the water line. Be sure to document the water line as well. Use a tape measure to capture the exact height of the water. Remember the burden is on the policyholder to prove their loss. If you have questions email be at bill@sasclaim.com I’ll do my best to help you out. Good luck!