After being impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Florida hurricane victims, even those who are insured, are facing a tough battle for their recovery. The insurance industry is treating the storms as two separate events, which means that those who were unable to fully document the damage caused by Helene may face even greater difficulties in obtaining approval of their claims if they were affected by both storms.
Simultaneously, recent reforms in Florida to recall insurance companies in the state have left victims with limited legal options to contest claims decisions.
Most people try to maximize their damage estimates and get insurance companies to pay their claims,” stated Rick Tutwiler, president of the claims settlement firm Tutwiler & Associates. “A lot of people don’t know what they’re getting into.”
For most affected residents, the financial impact of the storms will be devastating. Floods, which have caused much of the property damage, are generally not backed by standard homeowners insurance policies, leaving many without coverage for the majority of losses.
According to an NBC News analysis of U.S. government data, in the regions of Florida hardest hit by the storms, fewer than 25 percent of residents had separate flood insurance before the hurricanes made their impact; On the other hand, for those who have insurance, the combination of storms is expected to generate huge complications.
The insurance sector ranks Hurricane Helene as an event primarily caused by flooding. Although Hurricane Milton brought wind and rain, experts warn that property owners without flood insurance may not be protected from water damage because of the structure of most modern insurance policies.
Since the majority of Hurricane Helene’s damage was caused by flooding, the losses insurers expect from the storm are “modest,” according to Mark Friedlander, director of corporate communications at the Insurance Information Institute, which represents the insurance industry.
It is not yet clear how many homes will end up with claims from both Helene and Milton. However, Friedlander admitted that in such cases it could be “challenging” to determine which storm caused specific damage and, therefore, which insurance companies are obligated to cover.
Furthermore, surveyors will have to assess whether the damage caused by Hurricane Milton came in “from below,” which would classify it as flood damage, or “from above,” caused by wind-driven rain, Friedlander explained. This distinction is essential in determining the handling of claims.
Cases not covered by insurance present an entirely different challenge. Patti Drew’s home in Punta Gorda, on Florida’s southwest coast, was flooded by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Her daughter-in-law Deborah noted that Drew, 81, did not have basic homeowners insurance — a decision that reflects the circumstances of about one in six residents in neighboring Charlotte County.
According to experts, for victims like Drew, the only source of financial assistance is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Despite unfounded criticism of its disaster response and financial capacity, FEMA had already distributed $344 million in aid to some 375,000 families on Wednesday, before Hurricane Milton hit.
However, even those with flood insurance are finding that they are facing a financial crisis as well.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which insures 95 percent of policyholders against flooding in the United States, covers only losses up to 50 percent of the assessed value of a property, which excludes the land on which it is located.
But once losses exceed this 50 percent mark, homeowners are generally required to rebuild their property almost entirely out of their own pockets to meet FEMA flood regulations.
The combined cost to insurers caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton is expected to exceed $55 billion.
