Homeowners insurance claims from Hurricane Sandy remain unpaid
Over the past several months, new concerning Hurricane Sandy has been somewhat steady. The powerful storm struck the Eastern U.S. back in October 2012, but its effects are still being felt presently. The storm struck New Jersey particularly hard and has caused several problems in the realm of homeowners insurance, especially as many consumers expressed confusion over the coverage they had for their properties.
Report sheds light on troubled financial landscape in wake of powerful storm
The report comes from the New Jersey Star-Ledger and contains analysis based on data provided by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance as well as other agencies. The report highlights the impact that Hurricane Sandy had on the state and how the storm affected home insurance consumers. The report claims that more than 450,000 private insurance claims were generated by the storm in the state, not including those being handled through the National Flood Insurance Program.
23% of claims remain unpaid
According to the report, some 430,000 of these claims have been closed, but 23% of these claims did not result in any money going to the policyholder. The state’s insurance regulators suggest that unpaid claims cannot necessarily be considered rejected claims, but rather that insurers are looking for alternative ways to manage these claims, such as providing consumers with supplemental coverage for the future. The report suggests, however, that many of the claims that went unpaid were either because the terms of the policy did not offer protection or because the damage caused by the storm did not exceed deductibles.
State lawmakers work to make homeowners insurance less confusing
While the majority of homeowners insurance claims seem to have been paid by their representative provider, many have yet to receive payment for damages. Much of the problem lies in the confusion that surrounds typical homeowners insurance policies. This confusion has proven so problematic that state lawmakers are working to ensure that new policies are enforced to bring more clarity to the matter of insurance protection.
