FEMA Deadline To Request Sandy Claim Reviews Just 10 Days Away

By Karen Wall and Patricia A. Miller

Superstorm Sandy victims who aren’t happy with what they received in flood insurance and FEMA claims can still submit their claims for review, as long as they apply by Sept. 15.

”Our focus is on ensuring that everyone who wants to come into the process knows they can,” said Roy Wright, FEMA’s Deputy Administrator of FEMA Insurance and Mitigation.

So far, FEMA has received 12,500 claims, 7,000 of which are in the review process, he said.

“There are some examples of where people were paid correctly, but I’m also seeing examples of we’ve gotten it wrong,” Wright said.

“If it happened even once, I need to fix it,” he added.

Errors in calculating what a homeowner received range from things as simple as failing to account for sales tax on the goods needed to repair a home in the award, to engineering errors, he said.

Wright understands that some people may be afraid to apply for a review because they fear they would have to repay money received from other programs if they were awarded a bigger FEMA settlement.

”I am empathetic to some of the confusion,” he said.

But he said the money “would not be lost money out of their pocket” even if the FEMA review results in a higher award, because the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development will make a final determination.

Policyholders must have experienced flood damage between Oct. 27, 2012 and Nov. 6, 2012 as a result of Hurricane Sandy and must have had an active NFIP flood policy at the time of the loss to be eligible for the review. Policyholders can call the NFIP’s Hurricane Sandy claims center at 866-337-4262 to request a review.

Policyholders can also go online to www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-nfip-claims to download a form requesting a review. The downloaded form can be filled out and emailed to FEMA-sandyclaimsreview@fema.dhs.gov or faxed to 202-646-7970 to begin the review process. For individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and use 711 or VRS, please call 866-337-4262. For individuals using a TTY, please call 800-462-7585 to begin the review process.

Wright did not have a number on how many reviews resulted in increased settlements for the homeowners, but expects that number to be “a few hundred” by the end of the process.

”I need to get to 500 (completed reviews) to get a representative sample” to be able to give a real assessment of how many settlements were too low,” he said.

Wright admitted the process takes effort on the part of homeowners.

”I don’t want to say it’s easy,” he said. “But we designed a process that is as customer-centric as I can create. It shouldn’t require representation (by an attorney)“ to get through the process.”

A seasoned insurance adjuster is going through the claims file and looking over the information provided.

“If you already provided the information it’s simply a matter of looking through the file,” he said. “If there were things you thought we should have considered that we did not consider, we’ll look at that too.”

One thing he has told the adjusters is that in a case where something is marginal, “the new business rule is that the tie goes to the runner -- the policyholder has to receive the benefit.”

FEMA on Friday announced extended call center hours to help homeowners with any questions or problems.

The toll-free call center number is 866-337-4262.

The call center hours until the Sept. 15 deadline are as follows:

• Friday, Sept. 4 - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Labor Day, Sept. 7 - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Sept. 8 through Sept. 11 - 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.
• Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 - 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 - 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Policyholders should have as much information as possible when they call, including the name on the policy, the address of the damaged property and their 10-digit National Flood Insurance Policy Number that was in effect at the time of the storm.

“Policyholders will be asked a series of questions to determine whether they qualify for the review,” according to the FEMA website. ”If qualified, they will be called by an adjuster to begin the review. The timing of this call may be affected by the volume of requests. Most reviews can be concluded within 90 days.”

The Sandy claims review does not require an attorney. Several nonprofit service providers are ready to offer free advice and answer questions policyholders may have. A list of these advocacy groups can be found on the claims review website at www.fema.gov/sandyclaims.

Once the Sandy work has been completed, Wright said his next task is to lay out a new path for the FEMA claims process.

”I have to transform the National Flood Insurance Program so this does not happen again,” Wright said.

His initial changes are being tested in the flooding that occurred in Texas last month, that resulted in about 8,300 claims.

“It’s a much smaller test and we’re learning from it,” he said.

One step has been to create a call center, to try to intervene and assist homeowners more efficiently earlier in the process. In the months to come, they will be reviewing how the 82 insurance companies write the flood insurance policies to streamline matters.

“I’m not anti-write-your-own,” he said, “We’re looking at how we transform those policies” so that everyone is clear on how it works. That includes much broader education, “so policyholders have a full appreciation of what is covered and what is not.”

Claims and appeals will be separated in the future, he said.

“I need an unbiased set of eyes looking at those appeals,” he said -- so that what has happened to Sandy victims doesn’t happen again.