Flood insurance issues in North Carolina

Gary D. Robertson in the Claims Journal: Two North Carolina state officials want flood insurance claims adjusters to return to areas pummeled by Hurricane Irene to ensure home and business inspections are performed adequately so damage claims can be resolved as winter approaches. State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and Bob Etheridge – Gov. Beverly Perdue’s adviser on the recovery from the late August hurricane – wrote to the National Flood Insurance Program, which is under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Etheridge and Goodwin said they’ve received repeated complaints from citizens about the claims process. Adjusters from the program and private insurers haven’t done a sufficient job examining property “or worse have failed to follow up or show up to evaluate the claims,” they wrote.

“It is important for these claims to be evaluated properly and paid as quickly as possible so that these survivors can continue to rebuild their lives (and) that they get the services that they paid for what they bought and maintained their flood insurance policy,” the officials wrote.

Etheridge said Tuesday in a phone interview the letter dated last Friday came as displeasure reached a boiling point during a Tyrrell County town hall meeting. But there have been similar complaints in other eastern counties, he said. Other areas hard hit by the storm include Dare, Pamlico and Hyde counties. “It is incumbent (on them) to come back in here and take another look,” said Etheridge, a former North Carolina congressman.

FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said the flood program is reviewing the letter and is working “to ensure we are delivering the best possible service to our customers and helping disaster survivors recover from Hurricane Irene as quickly as possible.”...

NASA's full earth view of Hurricane Irene reaching the US east coast, August 26, 2011