The NYDailyNews.com reported homeowners are still waiting to get paid for roof claims caused by a tornado that ripped through Brooklyn, New York. It has been more than five months since the tornado caused the destruction.
Jake Pearson reported that four homes remain without roofs in one Brooklyn neighborhood and several other homeowners still have open claims with their carriers for various other damages caused by the September tornado.
Rufus James’ home was damaged by the storm and he was ordered by the city of Brooklyn to vacate his brownstone home. James has been displaced from his house since then. Brooklyn resident, Robert Grady, has also suffered greatly as a result of his insurance claim. Grady had just finished a $36,000 renovation project to his home in August 2010. One month later, the storm destroyed his roof. Grady revealed sentiments that I often hear from policyholders who are not getting the treatment they expected from their insurance carriers. Grady said, “I’m stressed out and stretched thin.”
Another policyholder with severe damage to his home, Carl Fanfair, expressed aggravation and concern about his loss, but Fanfair took action to get assistance with his claim. Fanfair enlisted the help of a public insurance adjuster to help get his claim resolved. He hired Unlimited 1 Adjustments LLC, a New York public adjusting firm, to assist in his claim against New York Property Insurance.
I was able to discuss the tornado claims at length with this public insurance adjusting company, and I gained insight into one of the reasons the carriers were delaying the claims. Jodi L. Miller, General Manager of Unlimited 1 Adjustments said:
It took longer than expected to settle these claims due to the simple fact that the insurance companies had difficulty understanding or agreeing to why there was a need for scaffolding to be erected to the front portion of the properties and also to the exposed side of the properties. This seemed to be the one common factor in all of the Quincy Street claims we handled. The need and requirement to protect the property, protect the contractors working, and also to protect any persons walking in front of the homes was paramount.
After weeks of submitting and explaining the need for scaffolding, Unlimited 1 Adjustments convinced the insurers to pay for it. Hopefully, some of the families and individuals can now start to get back to normal in this Brooklyn neighborhood.
Unlimited 1 Adjustments LLC is a newer public adjusting firm in New York, but the team has decades of experience adjusting claims for insureds. In addition to being experienced, Jodi says the firm has a focus on customer service: “we are a hands-on firm and take each and every claim seriously whether it is a small claim or a large claim. No two claims are alike but you can be sure that we fight just as hard and provide excellent customer service to each of our clients.” Excellent customer service is a great quality to find in any service organization, and it can drastically make a difference for policyholders in the aftermath of a devastating loss.