Tropical Storm Our Way

Posted on July 22nd, 2010

Miami’s CBS4 Reports
Tropical Depression number three has formed in the Bahamas and with its formation comes tropical storm warnings and watches. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the Florida east coast from Golden Beach southward including the entire Florida Keys and Florida Bay and along the west coast of Florida northward to Bonita Beach.

Read full article – http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/22/ap/national/main6702562.shtm

FIRST STAY SAFE AND PROTECT YOURSELF, FAMILY, AND HOME.
SECOND – REMEMBER TO CALL US IF YOU NEED HELP WITH A CLAIM

Tags: tropical strom
Filed under Weather | No Comments »

Miami Ranked #1

Posted on July 20th, 2010

There’s excitement around Miami’s new basketball lineup for the Heat being ranked number.  This isn’t the number one ranking weather.com placed on South Florida. Weather.com ranks Miami as the number in the Top Five Hurricane Vulnerable and Overdue Cities - http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/top5-most-vulnerable-overdue-hurricane-cities_2010-07-14?page=6

“Despite a long history of major hurricanes striking southern portions of Florida, metropolitan Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, and the nearby city of Miami along with many of its suburbs in Miami-Dade County, have gone for decades without experiencing the direct impacts from a very damaging hurricane.  At the same time, the population has soared and building has boomed in an area where essentially every person and structure resides within 20 miles of the coastline.”

This is frightening to read and it’s being reported about all over, here’s where to find it mentioned on the Miami New Times - http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2010/07/miami_ranked_first_for_cities.php

We cannot prevent a Hurricane, but we can prepare and plan for what happens if and when it hits. Give a ring today and I’ll explain how I can help you prepare.

Tags: hurricane, miami
Filed under Weather | No Comments »

Steps to Filing an Insurance Claim

Posted on July 7th, 2010

The process of filing an insurance claim can be very confusing, especially during the first time you file a claim. We’ve done our best to layout a few essential steps in the Florida insurance claim process – read more steps in filing an insurance claim in Florida. These steps are very relevant to those in many areas around South Florida – this includes Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. The Boca Raton and West Palm Beach communities have been searching online for public adjusters in Boca Raton or public adjusters in West Palm Beach. Really the focus should be on a public adjuster that understands the South Florida communities and insurance claim process regardless of the location the resident is filing their claim. This is true for homeowners in the surrounding Dade and Broward areas. Hope the links and information is helpful to all of our readers.

Here’s a few useful links to keep handy and research for yourself:

Florida Department of Financial Services: www.fldfs.com

Florida Office of Insurance Regulation: www.floir.com

Florida Market Assistance Program (can help people find insurance companies): www.fmap.org

Consumer Federation of America: www.consumerfed.org

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (has a link to help people look up complaints/financial data on their insurer): www.naic.org

Insurance Information Institute: www.iii.org

These links and others can also be found on the Sun Sentinel website. They have a great story gallery on the Florida homeowner insurance crisis.  We’re excited about bringing these resources to our readership. It’s important that consumers / homeowners understand how to navigate the insurance claim process in Florida. We recommend that time be spent to learn about the insurance claim process before a disaster hits – it’s a lot easier and there’s time to get your questions answered.

Florida Insurance Claim Process:

STEP 1: PRE-LOSS PREPARATION

Ironically, the claims process begins long before the actual loss. In order to get properly and timely compensated in the event of an Insurance Claim, it is important to take the following precautionary steps: have a copy of your ENTIRE policy readily available, understand the types and amounts of coverage you have, film a video and take numerous pictures of the interior and exterior of your home and an inventory list of all of the items of personal property that you have in your home. Remember; keep this list, video and pictures outside of your home.

STEP 2: LOSS MITIGATION & DAMAGE CONTROL

One a loss occurs, whether it is water damage, fire, flooding, hurricane, vandalism or otherwise; you should make every effort to mitigate damages and salvage whatever you can. This includes, but is not limited to, using tarps, create ventilation, contact remediation companies and safeguarding your valuables.

STEP 3: CONTACT A PUBLIC ADJUSTER

Contact Your Public Adjuster to facilitate with the claims filing and handling processes. At some point, you will need to provide your adjuster with all of the above listed documentation so that the claim can be handled professionally and settled in a timely manner.

STEP 4: FILING THE CLAIM

Although it is always recommended to hire a Public Adjuster, many people do not. If a Public Adjuster is involved, it is strongly recommended that the Public Adjuster actually call in the claim information. The information you will be asked when filing the claim will include: Type of Loss, Date of Loss, Loss Location and questions regarding what you have done since the loss to mitigate damages. It is important not to provide too much detail or information in the form of an opinion as whatever you state can be used against you. There are many policy exclusions and limitations that Insured’s are not familiar with and your statements are checked against those exclusions and limitations so that the Insurance Company can deny or limit coverage.

STEP 5: THE PROPERTY INSPECTION

Typically, within 72 hours of the loss, the Insurance Company will send out an “independent adjuster” to evaluate the damages, assess coverage and make recommendations to the Insurance Company. The only thing “independent” about these adjusters is their title. They are hired by the Insurance Company to represent the interests of the Insurance Company – they are not there to advocate for you. This is primarily why you need a Public Adjuster – to represent your interests and advocate for you.

At this inspection, the adjuster will ask many questions, look at the damage, take measurements and photographs and write up some notes to include in his estimate. DO NOT assume that just because he is doing these things the claim will be paid. Usually, the adjuster has no authority and is simply there to gather facts and information for the Insurance Company so that they can determine coverage. Normally, they use this information to claim some exclusion such as long term damage or wear and tear. Be very careful what you do and say with this independent adjuster.

more steps - Florida insurance claim process

Tags: filing insurance claim
Filed under How to File a Claim | 1 Comment »