Insurance questions after Hurricane Irma?

Claims Village set up in Brunswick to help navigate insurance issues

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – With cleanup still underway in Southeast Georgia after Hurricane Irma, many residents have insurance-related questions that they need answered as soon as possible.

To that end, the Georgia Department of Insurance will host a Catastrophe Claims Village in Brunswick on Monday and Tuesday to assist area residents with their insurance questions and claims resulting from the hurricane.

“Thousands of residents have suffered tremendous losses, and we are here to help them on the road to recovery,” Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said. “I encourage all residents who have insurance questions or need help filing a claim to visit our Claims Village.”

The Catastrophe Claims Village will operate in the parking lot of the Home Depot at 200 Altama Connector. Hudgens’ Consumer Services staff and representatives from many of the major insurance companies are scheduled to be there.

The event runs from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days.

Many people turn to public insurance adjusters after a storm. Some studies have shown a public adjuster can help a homeowner get up to seven times more money from their insurance company.

Mark Goldwich, a public insurance adjuster with Goldstar Adjusters, said the No. 1 insurance question people have is about trees.

“The tree is on my property, it falls on my neighbor's house. Or the tree is on my neighbor's property, it falls on my house. Who is responsible for what?” Goldwich said.

Goldwich said that generally speaking, providing that the tree lands on property covered by insurance, each insurance company pays for the part of the tree that is physically on each neighbor's property. He said if a tree just falls in a yard and doesn't damage any covered property, then there is no coverage.

Other big questions have to do with flood insurance, like is it the same as homeowners insurance, Goldwich said. He explained that it's not.

He said that if you have a policy on your home, it covers other buildings and things on the property, like a separate garage or fence, but that flood insurance only covers a home.

“If you have another structure that you want covered, and the contents in it, you want to have a separate policy on each structure that is on your property,” Goldwich said.

Goldwich said another questions is how does an insurance adjuster work. He said that in short, adjusters work for the homeowner, not the insurance company.

He also said it won't cost the homeowner anything out of pocket to hire a public adjuster and that payment is only due if the public adjuster is successful. He said that typically runs anywhere from 10 to 20 percent.

Goldwich said that when there's a catastrophe, like a hurricane, the state caps the adjuster's payment at 10 percent.

Residents who cannot attend the Claims Village can call the Insurance Department’s Consumer Services Hotline at 1-800-656-2298 if they need help filing a claim, or if they are experiencing difficulty reaching their insurance company. Phone lines are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. 


About the Author:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.