Have You Really Received All The Money You Are Entitled to for Your Hurricane Ike Wind or Flood Claim?

Eight Common Misconceptions About Hurricane and Flood Insurance Settlements

Once I have received a settlement from my insurance company I cannot re-open the claim.

Wrong. Your claim is what is known as a First Party Claim and you can re-open the claim anytime to allege newly found damage or to assert that you were not paid enough money for the damage you already found. If your insurance company or Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) had you sign a release when you got your money then they are in bad faith and you have a new claim against them for making you sign the release. I am still taking claims and re-opening them to find damages that were not paid to my clients. Please note that in order to take advantage of some of the penalties that the law provides you must file a lawsuit within two (2) years of the event. For Hurricane Ike that means you must file suit before September 13, 2010. If you are going to hire a lawyer you should do so immediately.

1. Once I have received a settlement from my insurance company I cannot re-open the claim.
   
   
2. On my flood claim I have to take what they offer me because it is FEMA and lawyers don’t want flood claims.
   
   
3. The insurance company or TWIA only owes me my actual damages and maybe my attorney fees for my damages.
   
   
4. I hired a public adjuster and he got me all the money I am going to get.
   
   
5. If I hire a lawyer to handle my windstorm claim he will take a fee and take some of the money that I need to fix my house.
   
   
6. I had a beach house on the Bolivar Peninsula that got blown away. TWIA has some report from experts that says that the storm surge came ashore first and destroyed my beach house and the high winds only did about 11% of the damage to my home. I guess 11% of the cost to replace the house is all I can get.
   
   
7. I had broken windows and rain coming in through my roof. You can see water stains on my ceiling. But I also had flood water in my house and the insurance company or TWIA is saying that the flood caused most or all of my damage.
   
   
8. I am only entitled to what it cost me to fix my house, but some of the work was done by me or friends or church groups and volunteers so I cannot get paid for that.