Insurers brace for flood of Sandy claims [NJBIZ (NJ)]
By Fitzgerald, Beth | |
Proquest LLC |
THE DEVASTATION OF Hurricane Sandy, which turned streets into rivers of floating homes, cars and offices, could result in as much as
And while homeowners and businesses have been more willing to purchase flood insurance in recent years - especially after
He said there's an expectation in the industry that Sandy will generate "quite a bit of uninsured or underinsured flood losses at both the commercial and the consumer level. But it will take some time to sort out just where it stands." While flood damage is excluded, wind damage usually is covered.
He said flood insurance is an expense that consumers and businesses forego if they calculate their risk is low.
"Flood insurance is perceived as expensive, but price is not the only factor," Gilbertson said. "There will probably be a lot of flood losses in the wake of this storm that are incurred by people who didn't consider themselves to be flood prone."
Calls to
"Flood damage is not covered under the homeowners' policy, but hopefully a lot of people learned from the Irene example, and if they were in areas that were at risk, they did obtain flood coverage," Stenson said. NJM opened its
Insurers say Irene made property owners more receptive to paying for flood insurance, but billions of losses are unlikely to be reimbursed by insurance.
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