Is it true that the Mississippi A.G. lawsuit against the insurance industry is a diversionary tactic to shield the failures of local and state governments to adequately plan and follow emergency procedures?
No, everyone realizes that local, state, and federal governments all failed miserably at their readiness and response actions. This is nothing more than grandstanding.
The attorney general and the people who were negligent on the local and state levels get their paychecks from the same place. Tax payers send money, but the employees are trying to protect themselves any way they can.
And you believe whether a property has flood coverage is dependent on the entity in charge of the levee? Are you confusing what flood water did to property with the liability issue of who was negligent in protecting the levee?
A typical flood may be rain-caused where you live. (Somewhere in the midwest, isn’t it?) In coastal areas, a typical flood is hurricane/TS driven. By your reasoning, those who live on barrier islands will never have ‘flood’ problems, since the houses are on stilts and rain just runs into the ocean.
There’s something not kosher about your flood policy story. U/W does not return money and app because pictures were not sent in; they just ask for them later. I have never known anyone to be turned down for flood. I have known plenty of people who turned down flood coverage.
I’m not sure you have this right. Both Gov’s of Mississippi and Alabama were basically ready for this storm. Loss of life in both states was minimal, damage on the other hand was catasthropic, no fault of either Gov. When if and as building codes change to reflect potential risk, then perhaps this sort of damage will not exist to the degree that it has. Both states were a far cry from the idiotic response in Louisiana, where State and local officials were just plain inept.
What may well drive the loss over the top is going to be whether a benchmark decision is arrived at agreeing that wind driven rain, which causes surge is a different risk than the definition of Flood.
As an aside, you realy have to wonder, who in hell, anyone charged with the responsibility of emergency management could not have foreseen the need over the years to stock pile water, rations and personal needs in warehouses safe from damage. Makes no difference if it’s Gulf Coast, Florida, California or mid American, it simply doesn’t make any common sense.
Was it the “wind-driven rain” that caused the surge or wind driving surface water? I’m just an insurance agent in Ohio and we don’t get much of that weather up here…
The surge is like a title wave – it’s part of the hurricane. Wind driven rain is just that, flood is rising water.
It’s complicated because there is wind-driven rain, storm surge, and flood waters from the levee giving way. The suit is claiming that since the levee broke because the people in charge (especially the city of New Orleans) didn’t build a proper levee as was recommended to them almost 4 decades ago, then the flooding should be treated differently than if it just got deep from a natural cause. BUT if a levee breaks then NATUALLY it will get deep. Seems natural cause to me, even if a natural idiot was responsible.
If you are an adjuster how can you tell what kind of water did the damage? Beats me! Some cases may be obvious because of the property location. But some won’t be so easy. Glad I’m not an adjuster.
It’s not wind driven rain that caused the vast majority of the flooding. The storm surge from the hurricane is energy from the storm (primarily wind) driving the ocean (surface water, if you want to call it that) inland, thus causing devastating flooding. That’a how the AG’s suit should be seen as ridiculous. Wind didn’t cause damage to the houses within a couple miles of the shore, it was the storm surge that flattened & flooded those houses. Thus, the standard HO policy will not cover that damage.
This whole thing is a sad situation. Many people who had asked for flood insurance were told by their agents that they did not need flood insurance. What we may see is quite a few E&O claims filed against agents.
I know someone in MS who paid their flood insurance months ago when they closed on their brand new home. After the hurricane, they received a refund check with a letter stating that they did not have coverage because a picture of the home was not sent in. The flood insurance was a loan requirement for this couple. The agent has admitted that he was aware that there was no coverage prior to the hurricane. Their home was flododed.
A typical flood consists of excessive rain that ultimatley causes flooding. What we had with Katrina was wind driven water that came in and was out in less then 12 hours. Katrina was a relatively dry hurricane compared to others.
My parents who live in MS also still do not know if they have flood insurance. There policy was supposed to be in effect on 8/26 when they closed on their home (once again a loan requirement.) Their agent told them last week that the policy was in a pending status. Their home was flooded as well.
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Is it true that the Mississippi A.G. lawsuit against the insurance industry is a diversionary tactic to shield the failures of local and state governments to adequately plan and follow emergency procedures?
No, everyone realizes that local, state, and federal governments all failed miserably at their readiness and response actions. This is nothing more than grandstanding.
The attorney general and the people who were negligent on the local and state levels get their paychecks from the same place. Tax payers send money, but the employees are trying to protect themselves any way they can.
And you believe whether a property has flood coverage is dependent on the entity in charge of the levee? Are you confusing what flood water did to property with the liability issue of who was negligent in protecting the levee?
A typical flood may be rain-caused where you live. (Somewhere in the midwest, isn’t it?) In coastal areas, a typical flood is hurricane/TS driven. By your reasoning, those who live on barrier islands will never have ‘flood’ problems, since the houses are on stilts and rain just runs into the ocean.
There’s something not kosher about your flood policy story. U/W does not return money and app because pictures were not sent in; they just ask for them later. I have never known anyone to be turned down for flood. I have known plenty of people who turned down flood coverage.
I’m not sure you have this right. Both Gov’s of Mississippi and Alabama were basically ready for this storm. Loss of life in both states was minimal, damage on the other hand was catasthropic, no fault of either Gov. When if and as building codes change to reflect potential risk, then perhaps this sort of damage will not exist to the degree that it has. Both states were a far cry from the idiotic response in Louisiana, where State and local officials were just plain inept.
What may well drive the loss over the top is going to be whether a benchmark decision is arrived at agreeing that wind driven rain, which causes surge is a different risk than the definition of Flood.
As an aside, you realy have to wonder, who in hell, anyone charged with the responsibility of emergency management could not have foreseen the need over the years to stock pile water, rations and personal needs in warehouses safe from damage. Makes no difference if it’s Gulf Coast, Florida, California or mid American, it simply doesn’t make any common sense.
Pete
Was it the “wind-driven rain” that caused the surge or wind driving surface water? I’m just an insurance agent in Ohio and we don’t get much of that weather up here…
The surge is like a title wave – it’s part of the hurricane. Wind driven rain is just that, flood is rising water.
It’s complicated because there is wind-driven rain, storm surge, and flood waters from the levee giving way. The suit is claiming that since the levee broke because the people in charge (especially the city of New Orleans) didn’t build a proper levee as was recommended to them almost 4 decades ago, then the flooding should be treated differently than if it just got deep from a natural cause. BUT if a levee breaks then NATUALLY it will get deep. Seems natural cause to me, even if a natural idiot was responsible.
If you are an adjuster how can you tell what kind of water did the damage? Beats me! Some cases may be obvious because of the property location. But some won’t be so easy. Glad I’m not an adjuster.
It’s not wind driven rain that caused the vast majority of the flooding. The storm surge from the hurricane is energy from the storm (primarily wind) driving the ocean (surface water, if you want to call it that) inland, thus causing devastating flooding. That’a how the AG’s suit should be seen as ridiculous. Wind didn’t cause damage to the houses within a couple miles of the shore, it was the storm surge that flattened & flooded those houses. Thus, the standard HO policy will not cover that damage.
This whole thing is a sad situation. Many people who had asked for flood insurance were told by their agents that they did not need flood insurance. What we may see is quite a few E&O claims filed against agents.
I know someone in MS who paid their flood insurance months ago when they closed on their brand new home. After the hurricane, they received a refund check with a letter stating that they did not have coverage because a picture of the home was not sent in. The flood insurance was a loan requirement for this couple. The agent has admitted that he was aware that there was no coverage prior to the hurricane. Their home was flododed.
A typical flood consists of excessive rain that ultimatley causes flooding. What we had with Katrina was wind driven water that came in and was out in less then 12 hours. Katrina was a relatively dry hurricane compared to others.
My parents who live in MS also still do not know if they have flood insurance. There policy was supposed to be in effect on 8/26 when they closed on their home (once again a loan requirement.) Their agent told them last week that the policy was in a pending status. Their home was flooded as well.