The problem of separating wind and water damage after a hurricane will not go away, U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor knows.
In fact, he has been educating his Texas counterparts on what they can expect from the insurance industry after Hurricane Ike. Sympathetic adjusters will handle flood claims for residents who have federal flood coverage, cutting checks quickly with assurances that wind claims will be investigated.
In the end, the private carrier – who adjusts both claims through an agreement with the National Flood Insurance Program – will offer policyholders nothing, or pennies on the dollar, for wind damage to properties also hit by tidal surge.
It is true that surge is far more destructive than wind. But even insurance claims executives concede it is difficult, at best, to sort out the cause of loss on Coastal properties obliterated by hurricanes.
Those with resources can wait for the courts to sort out the damage, a process ongoing three years after Hurricane Katrina.
