Amid Hurricane Season and following the aftermath of Hurricane Barry, it is a good time to remember that flood insurance is an important part of Louisiana home ownership. In Barry alone, flood loss for residential and commercial properties in Louisiana is estimated to be between $200 million and $400 million, including both storm surge and [...]
In August 2016 a heavy three-day rainfall resulted in historic flooding in parts of south Louisiana. The events surrounding the flood have been called “unprecedented,” “a 500-year event,” and “catastrophic” just to name a few. This historic flood led to much damage and despair, washing away generations of memories and leaving behind an aftermath of [...]
Does your insurance policy have an “Act of God,” or “Act of Nature” provision? An “Act of God” or “Act of Nature” provision generally refers to those “events outside of human control, like flash floods, earthquakes or other natural disasters.” While these provisions are admissible in several forms of contracts, they are not generally allowed [...]
The August 2016 “Great Flood” impacted more than 145,000 households in Louisiana, with over 41.5% of the population in nine parishes flooded. The estimated damage to homes exceeded $30.4 billion. In the Capital Region, 34.8% of businesses were affected and in one of the hardest hit areas, Livingston Parish, 91% of the businesses and 94% [...]
According to WBRZ, the U.S. Senate has passed a four-month re-authorization of the National Flood Insurance program. The re-authorization protects more than 500,000 properties across Louisiana. The re-authorization ensures the program will run through the remainder of the 2018 hurricane season. “With this extension in place, we can tackle long-term reforms. The last time we [...]
As we have noted in previous posts, flood insurance policyholders have deadlines they must comply with to ensure full and fair payments from their insurance companies. These deadlines are critical — failure to meet them can result in denial of claims. One of the most critical deadlines is the deadline for the insured to provide […]
While we have complaints about inadequate appraisals and underpayments to our clients recovering from the Great Flood of 2016, we know that the National Flood Insurance Program is a critical component of this — and future — recoveries in Louisiana and elsewhere. It is critical that homeowners who do the right thing and pay premiums […]
Insurance is a special type of contract. The consumer pays premiums to the insurance company. In return, the insurance company pays benefits to the consumer if one of the things that the consumer is paying premiums to protect against – like damage from a flood – occurs. But because of the special nature of the […]
Recent victims of flooding in Louisiana need to be aware of some of the basic facts of flood insurance: Homeowner’s insurance does not typically cover flood damage. Flood damage is compensated from flood policies issued under the National Flood Insurance Program. The NFIP covers up to $250,000 for the structure of the home and $100,000 […]
In 48 hours, the Baton Rouge area took in about 2 feet of rain. Watson, Louisiana saw more rainfall in a couple of days than Los Angeles has in four years. 40,000 homes have suffered flood damage. Those efforts led Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Add to remark, “