Insurance losses from Hurricane Ian could range from $25 billion to $40 billion. The price could increase depending on what damage Ian inflicts in the Carolina. That’s why it’s important to understand the insurance coverage and claims process ahead.
The full financial and human price of Hurricane Ian’s destruction is still unknown, days after it lashed Florida, and now with the Carolinas fresh off its wrath.
Hurricane Ian is “likely to rank among the worst in the nation’s history,” President Joe Biden said Friday. “It’s going to take months, years to rebuild.” But big-picture insurer costs might matter very little to the many families who have seen their homes leveled, their cars completely waterlogged and their lives completely upended. What will matter is getting every last penny to start the slow recovery process — all the more critical when everyday life is already so expensive at a time of hot inflation.Wind damage is covered by standard homeowners, renters and business insurance policies, the Insurance Information Institute said.
“The claim settlement issues on this event will go on for some years,” said Morrison, president of the public adjuster firm, Morrison & Morrison, with its headquarters near Houston and another office in Florida’s Panhandle. “If, down the road, you have difficulty, you want to tell the carrier for the time period, you have documents and dates from when the claim started,” he said. “A diary of everything that has occurred so far in the claim needs to be kept.”
Do the best at damage control. If there are holes in houses or other damage that keeps exposing insured property to the elements, people “have to take reasonable steps to prevent additional damage,” Morrison said. That could be tarps or temporary sealing methods, he said. “Typically, public adjusters come into the process when an insured has experienced a loss and is overwhelmed,” Morrison said.