Superstorm Challenges Definition of Basement in New Jersey

By KATIE ZEZIMA | January 22, 2013

  • January 22, 2013 at 3:33 pm
    Jester says:
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    It may be the unit owner’s first floor, but as far as the building construction is concerned, it’s below grade and ergo a “basement”. These folks should have gotten some insurance advice before something like this happened. There’a a reason “basements” are excluded. It’s less of a “risk” of a loss and more of a question of “when”.

  • January 22, 2013 at 4:17 pm
    Ronnie Sonnier says:
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    Wow! People can’t read? It’s VERY obvious in the policy what is/is not covered, and the definition of a basement is there.
    Sandy “victims” are starting to sound a lot like katrina “victims”. Crying in their milk AFTER the storm.

  • January 22, 2013 at 8:04 pm
    Furrie Princess says:
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    And where are the city building codes? Not requiring sewerage backflow preventors on lower level plumbing, that might have prevented or mitigated the damage. FEMA should consider a classification for finished living area below grade, it is a very common thing in many areas to have a finished basement or even apartment area below grade.

  • January 23, 2013 at 12:39 am
    Anthony says:
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    By definition basement can be viewed as many things. According to some the opinion of basement is a void place in a home and apparently the flood policies say different. If it helps any my view is that basements of a void space has no re sale value. To a real estate agent a basement adds no value to a property but serves as a selling feature. On the other hand if the space deemed basement has client control or is the basis of the selling square footage it’s deemed as living space. Sounds like the flood adjusters are misleading or mistaken. This opinion I have should be passed on to the lawyers representing property owners. I am tendard as an expert in policy interpolation and construction methodology.

  • January 25, 2013 at 12:44 am
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    While it is important to have good writing skills, that is only part of writing a good post. Obviously you possess these skills, but you also have a special flair for informative writing. Well done.



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