California Insurance Commissioner Lara warns consumers of flood insurance fraud

Flood Insurance Fraud

As San Diego County started its clean-up efforts, residents are warned of dubious companies preying on victims. Flood insurance claims are up in San Diego, where hundreds of properties and vehicles were damaged and destroyed by recent flooding, but California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has placed his department on alert for fraud and other illegal activities targeting the victims of the flooding. The Department is already receiving reports that consumers claim public adjusters have been contacting them. Immediately after the recent floods, some home and business owners say they were…

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Earthquake insurance claims cause the third highest number of consumer complaints

Earthquake insurance - Complaints

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority recorded COVID and flood emergency claims in first and second. Earthquake insurance claim are responsible for the third most consumer complaints, behind only claims relating to COVID and those associated with flood emergencies, according to new data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) based on Queensland and New South Wales filings. As of June 22, the AFCA had already received more than 350 complaints about claims from a September quake. The town of Mansfield in Victoria, Australia, suffered a 5.9 magnitude earthquake September 22,…

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RMS pegs Hurricane Isaias loss estimates as high as $5 billion

Hurricane Isaias - American dollars

The insured total loss estimates in the United States include those from NFIP claims. The Risk Management Solutions (RMS) catastrophe risk modeling firm has predicted that the total insured losses associated with Hurricane Isaias in the United States will be between $3 billion and $4.5 billion. The Atlantic storm caused less than $500 million in insured damage in the Caribbean, said RMS. The US estimate includes the losses the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) covered from Hurricane Isaias. Those were estimated to have fallen between $400 million and $700 million,…

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Federal flood insurance program swamped by repeat claims

federal flood insurance program stop

NFIP struggles with debate over paying one claim after the next or supporting structure elevations. The federal flood insurance is finding itself drowning in repeat claims made by the same properties that experience regular flooding. At the same time that Congress is trying to work its way through a slew of bills for reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), that same program is paying out multiple times to the same claimants. This has created a call for reducing the number of repeat flooding incidences in order to shrink repeat…

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Allstate uses insurance drones to assess storm damage

insurance company drones aerial

The insurer is using the technology to get a better idea of the property damage situation from spring storms. Allstate is using insurance drones to conduct an assessment of the property damage left behind by spring storms in four states. The company already owns the technology in a number of locations and was prepared to implement it when it was needed. In preparation to use the drones, Allstate Insurance readied itself with a solid fleet of the technology. The Allstate fleet of insurance drones are either ready or already being…

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Home flood insurance for high risk properties may be cancelled

home flood insurance coverage

Congress is currently looking at the National Flood Insurance Program and coverage for troublesome locations. The United States Congress may soon take the axe to home flood insurance coverage for properties that are regularly flooded. It is looking specifically at the way communities deal with some of the properties that flood the most. They are the locations that make the most frequent National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims and receive the most payouts. New bipartisan legislation could require communities to handle repeated loss patterns from flooding. The existence of home…

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Agents see surge in interest regarding flood insurance

flood insurance bills debt money

Consumers are becoming more interested in flood protection Agents are making note of a surge in flood insurance sales as homeowners seek protection from disastrous events. Recent storms have caused floods in several parts of the country, and many people affected by these disasters have learned that their homeowners insurance policies do not offer the protection they need. Most typical homeowners policies do not offer flood protection, which can only be found through the National Flood Insurance Program, managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Homeowners may be too slow…

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