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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Post-Crash Index-Moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: posthumousone who wrote (37318)	8/27/2011 11:06:16 PM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 119360

post do not worry the insurance co are watching the money-s- Hurricane damage may have high deductible Hurricane damage could cost you more these days, thanks to hurricane and windstorm deductibles that have become part of most policies in Hampton Roads and coastal North Carolina. They require a homeowner to pay for part of any hurricane damage before their regular coverage kicks in. The deductibles typically range from 1 to 5 percent of a home's insured value. If a home has $200,000 of coverage and a windstorm or hurricane deductible of 5 percent, a policyholder must pay for the first $10,000 of the claim. "Families will have to dig deeper into their pockets because insurers have been steadily increasing hurricane wind coverage deductibles and imposing other policy limitations," J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. "Once your claim is reported, be sure to get your claim number and write it down," Hunter said. Also, start a notebook to document your contacts with the insurance company with the date, time and a brief description of the exchange, he said. To help those with damage, major insurers said Friday that they were prepared to dispatch mobile offices and additional personnel to Hampton Roads if needed to handle policyholders' claims from Hurricane Irene. "We've got a number of mobile claims units stationed in Charlotte ready to be deployed along the East Coast," Deborah Pickford, a spokeswoman for Allstate Insurance Co., said. Allstate also plans to send in teams that will go door-to-door to contact policyholders in areas with significant damage, she said. Farmers Insurance Group expects to send a bus-sized vehicle equipped to process claims to Virginia Beach when the storm subsides, Jerry Davies, a Farmers spokesman, said. Farmers has mobile-office vehicles assembled at a staging area in Raleigh, N.C., he said. Other insurers said they are waiting to see where the greatest storm damage occurs before dispatching catastrophe teams and vehicles. Nationwide Insurance is sending mobile-claims vehicles to staging areas in Raleigh, Richmond and Harrisburg, Pa. "We will wait until the storm passes" before deciding where to use them, Elizabeth Stelzer, a Nationwide spokeswoman, said. State Farm, a major insurer of homes and autos in Hampton Roads, probably will have teams in a shopping center in the region to assist policyholders face to face, Jon Hannah, a State Farm spokesman, said. These teams and facilities could become crucial for policyholders whose homes are so badly damaged they are uninhabitable. The policyholders could be entitled to upfront payments for their living expenses, such as hotel costs. Several insurers, including State Farm, Nationwide, Allstate and USAA, have already notified policyholders with automated phone messages and email of ways to file any hurricane-related claims. USAA, which provides homeowners and auto coverage to members of the military, military retirees and their family members, is encouraging its policyholders to file claims via their mobile devices. Agents and claims adjusters for some insurers will be able to process their policyholders' claims for flood insurance, a separate form of coverage provided through the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program. While many agents who sell homeowners insurance also sell coverage for flood damage, these policies are distinct from homeowners policies. Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com