Thoughts About Property Insurance at the FAPIA Fall Conference

It is never a good sign when the Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore is in your hometown, and a hurricane is on the way. Cantore is in Tampa. Hurricane Milton is on the way to Tampa or somewhere close by. I am in Miami at the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (FAPIA) Fall conference and need to get back home to Tampa and prepare for Hurricane Milton.

Ashley Harris and I were supposed to give a speech on Tuesday about preparing National Flood Insurance Claims. They have moved the speech up to this morning so I can leave early. Ashley and her husband, Corey Harris, went to North Carolina to check on their damaged home. They decided to ride out Hurricane Milton in North Carolina rather than return to Tampa. So, I will be giving this speech by myself.

Ashley Harris was my primary attorney following Superstorm Sandy, assisting our team with over six hundred National Flood Insurance claims and lawsuits. She learned a lot, and her absence will be missed.  National Flood claim preparation and lawsuits are a nightmare. There are many traps, and it is easy to prpare these claims the wrong way and not be able to challenge the government about an underpaid claim.  I hope public adjusters pay close attention to what I am about to say.

My speech, “What Does Your Client Think of You? Are You The Weakest Link?” kicked off a great day of lessons and presentations. One of my points to public adjusters was to be wary of “pretender” insurance educators who often teach wrong methods and philosophies of adjusting. These usually non-credentialed and somewhat less experienced public adjusters often teach and suggest that handing hard cases over to attorneys (who are usually supporting these teachers) is the proper way to adjust claims and represent policyholders. This is simply wrong and policyholders retaining public adjusters deserve better.