When a hurricane hits and your property is impacted, you’ll be focused on repairing damage and taking care of your family or business in the meantime. You probably won’t be thinking about how to maximize your insurance claim settlement—even though that could be the very thing that helps you return to normal.

At Tiger Adjusters, our licensed Public Adjusters can help you find coverage hidden in your policy language that you otherwise might not know about. Check out the list below to see if any apply to your hurricane claim.

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Continuous flooring
Continuous flooring is not outright mentioned in your insurance policy, but it is a construction industry standard practice. It typically comes into play in flood or water damage claims. A Public Adjuster will check to see if a floor is continuous, i.e., has no transition strip between rooms. If it is continuous, the insured is entitled to have the entire continuous floor replaced, even if it is only damaged in a single spot, to maintain the home’s aesthetic. 

For example, if your hardwood floors are warping from flood damage and you repair only one section, you’ll be able to tell where the repair was made because it will look different than the wood around it or in other rooms. Whereas, if you replace all the continuous flooring, it all matches, and you’ll be closer to the property’s pre-damage state.

Coverage for continuous flooring can significantly change the value of a claim. Often, baseboards, painting, and even cabinetry and countertops must be removed and/or replaced to install the new continuous flooring, creating a cascading domino effect that could all be covered by your insurance policy—even though not every part was touched by the damage.

Tiger Tip: Depending on your policy, limits likely still apply, so your coverage may be capped at a certain maximum amount. Keep in mind that claims resulting from stormwater flooding require you to have active flood insurance to be considered covered damages.

Contents (Coverage C - Unscheduled Personal Property)
In insurance lingo, contents refers to personal belongings damaged during a loss event at an insured property. Following a hurricane, contents coverage can help you replace things like furniture, upholstery, electronics, appliances, clothes, and more.

When your Public Adjuster conducts a property inspection, they will document contents damage alongside property damage. They will use the photos taken at your property to compile a comprehensive itemized contents list, with an estimate of the cost to replace everything that was damaged, based on fair market prices. For expensive items, you may be required to provide photos of items in the home before damage occurred or receipts from purchase as evidence.

Contents claims are considered a part of your primary damage claim.                                                                                                                                      

ALE for evacuation and displacement costs
Additional Living Expenses (ALE) apply to a claim when an insured property owner is forced to leave the property due to covered damages. It can sometimes provide reimbursement for evacuation and displacement costs due to hurricane conditions.

However, there are a few things to consider. You are only eligible for ALE coverage if your property is damaged by the storm. If you evacuate but your home does not sustain damage, you will be responsible for the cost of evacuation. The only exception to this is if you are in a declared disaster zone where evacuation is mandated by state or local government.

Tiger Tip: Be sure to keep receipts and track all expenses while displaced from your property, including hotel or temporary housing costs, food, new clothes and/or laundry fees, and travel (airline tickets or gasoline and mileage, if driving).

Trees and landscaping
Many property owners are unaware that they can include trees, bushes, and landscaping in their damage claim after a hurricane.

Let’s say high winds uproot trees in your yard. Your insurance policy may provide coverage for professional tree removal and the cost to replace the trees.

Keep in mind that your policy will likely cap this coverage at a certain limit, too. And some high-risk coastal areas may require you to have separate storm insurance. The National Real Estate Insurance Group notes,
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"If the trees or other greenery on your property are damaged in a Named Windstorm, and your property is in a coastal area, you will likely need Named Windstorm coverage for those items to have the potential of being covered. Named Windstorm is coverage specific to damage that happens during a Hurricane or Tropical Storm and is typically purchased separately. It is NOT the same as Wind and Hail coverage that covers items damaged in tornadoes or thunderstorm events.”

A licensed and trained Public Adjuster can examine your policy language to determine if you are eligible for coverage of damage to trees and landscaping, and, if so, how much.

Business interruption
Business interruption insurance is typically included in most commercial property insurance policies. It can bridge the gap and help business owners relaunch after being displaced by property damage.

For example, an apartment complex damaged by storms may have to relocate tenants due to property conditions and lose income from rent on each unit that’s displaced.  Business interruption coverage ensures that the loss of income is reimbursed as part of the claim settlement.

According to the Texas Department of Insurance, “Some business interruption policies extend ‘extra expense’ coverage for necessary expenses that would not have incurred if there had not been direct physical loss or damage to the property by a peril covered under the policy.”

Tiger Tip: There are specific policy limits set for business interruption, and the associated settlement is based on the company’s historical profit, not simply revenue.

Tiger Adjusters is here to help

Don’t go it alone when it comes to tackling your hurricane claim—you could be leaving settlement money on the table that you’re rightfully entitled to under your policy. Hire our experts to manage your claim and maximize your settlement.

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