As Florida prepares to learn when and where Colin will form in the Atlantic Ocean, one public adjuster is pushing for education of property owners before it’s too late.

Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Bonnie each gave Florida a scare when they formed but never accounted for major damage in the state. Even so, it’s the cleanup after any future storm that has Tutwiler and Associates worried.

“Few people know about the difference between a hurricane deductible and regular windstorm deductibles,” says Dick Tutwiler, founder and CEO of Tutwiler and Associates. “Worse yet, even fewer property owners understand that a hurricane doesn’t even have to hit his or her property or city to be affected.”

Tutwiler is talking about state guidelines that allow the National Hurricane Center to declare when a “hurricane watch or warning” goes into effect.  By law, if a hurricane watch or warning is issued in Miami, all property owners in the state – even up in Pensacola – would be paying a hurricane deductible for wind damage and not their regular windstorm deductible. In other words, just by triggering the watch or warning, the NHC controls insurance wind deductibles statewide. If a spin-off tornado were to hit in Fort Myers or Jacksonville, a hurricane deductible would kick in for those locations.

And the difference in money out of pocket for residents is staggering:

Take a sample $200,000 home in the state of Florida. Windstorm damage could be handled with a $500 deductible paid for by the property owner.  But that same damage with a common 10% hurricane deductible would amount to $20,000 for the property owner.

Of course, lower deductibles are available with higher premiums and many owners may have selected higher deductibles than the example above.

“The amount of money we’re talking about is significant and property owners need to be prepared for that, especially with an active storm season predicted this year. We’re coming into the most active time of the season for hurricanes and education is so important,” says Tutwiler.

For more than 25 years, the Florida public adjuster Tutwiler and Associates has handled every type of insurance claim throughout the Gulf Coast region and understands the potential catastrophic effects any tropical weather can cause to the coastal areas. The licensed and certified public adjusters have offices throughout the Sunshine State, are licensed in nine other states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and emphasize education on a daily basis to make sure residents are as prepared as they can be when they have damage to their home or business.

The hurricane deductible stays in effect for up to 72 hours after the watch or warning has ended so it is possible residents could be facing a larger deductible far away from any landfall for a hurricane for more than a week at any time depending on the path of a storm.

Consumers need to budget money now for the possibility of paying larger deductibles later, says Tutwiler. And, every property owner could benefit from digging up his or her policy and looking at exactly what that deductible is because it is the consumer’s choice on how much coverage they have and how much they want to pay now versus how much they’ll be forced to pay later.  They should also read the language in the deductible clause so they are aware of its application to the loss beyond just the math of its calculation.  Now is the time to discuss this very important issue with the insurance agent or broker. 

“The intent by lawmakers was to use higher hurricane deductibles and help manage premiums for consumers but the consumers have to be prepared ahead of time for that to work to the advantage of the property owner. Really, there’s a key measure of personal responsibility that comes into play and if you’re not ready for it, the amount of money you’ll end up paying will be a shock,” Tutwiler says.

The good news with the law, Tutwiler says, is that it does protect people from having to pay more than one deductible in a really bad storm season.  If multiple hurricanes impact the same piece of property (like they did during the 2004 storm season), only one hurricane deductible applies. So, if a consumer has damage from two or three storms, he or she would pay only the one hurricane deductible and not have separate charges.

For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com

CONTACT:
Tutwiler and Associates
Email:
Phone: (800) 321-4488
For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com

About Tutwiler and Associates: Tutwiler and Associates is a firm of public adjusters licensed in 10 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands specializing in commercial and residential property loss adjusting. With well in excess of $113 million in client success stories over a 27-year history, the Florida public adjusters work exclusively on behalf of policyholders to help them achieve the maximum settlement amounts they can fairly and honestly recover based on their loss and their policy provisions. Professional help from the adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates can help clients obtain a fair recovery under their policy. The Gulf Coast based public adjuster firm is committed to public service and strives to educate its clients about commercial and residential windstorm and hurricane losses, flood damage, fire, smoke and water damage, collapse, hidden decay and mold losses, sinkholes, loss of stock, and business interruption.