After Hurricane Helene devastated six states, homeowners are filing insurance claims, although many people find themselves without coverage due to tightened policy terms and increased deductibles. Property damage estimates range from $15 billion to $26 billion, though insured losses might be lower since most homeowners do not have flood insurance. In addition, deductibles have reached 5% for certain insurers, so many will face significant out of pocket expenses for repairs. Fewer than 1% of households in the hardest hit areas carry flood insurance which makes recovery complicated. Insurers could say the damage was in fact caused by flooding and it isn’t covered at all. According to Josh Darr, a managing director at reinsurance brokerage Guy Carpenter states, “There’s a lot of potential for litigation on claims, if the insurer takes a hard line and says it was 100% flood damage, even though the wind was blowing up to 140 miles per hour.” https://www.wsj.com/finance/homeowners-hit-by-helene-are-in-for-an-insurance-claim-shock-60ae5519?mod=hp_listb_pos3
Homeowners Hit by Helene
