Wind Damage, Hurricane Irma

When Hurricane Irma hit Coral Gables, Florida in September of 2017, it was moving from a Category Four to a Category Three Hurricane with wind gusts recorded at 90 mph. Our client’s property, a beautiful 5-bedroom single-family home on Biscayne Bay, sustained heavy wind damage, in the seven-figure range. There was extensive damage to both the exterior and interior of the home. The insurance company adjuster tried to “desk” adjust the claim, meaning he was based in an office in Illinois, and never visited the property to review the damage in person.

Instead, the insurance company hired a local “Building Consultant” to represent their interests, who did not have the necessary expertise to address all the damage resulting from a hurricane of this magnitude. The claim dragged out for 18 months, as we fought for our client’s interests, finally doubling the initial offer by insisting on going through the Appraisal process, an insurance term for a version of arbitration. We were able to go back and recover an additional $305,000 in building code upgrades after we had doubled the original estimate in Appraisal. The total recovery for our client was more than $1 million after the $100,000 windstorm/hurricane deductible.

Our clients were able to rebuild their home as it was, with added improvements for better strength to resist strong winds.

— Claim adjusted by Michael Creed