The tornado in Nashville has caused major destruction and significantly impacted business & residential property owners. Our teams are actively engaged with property & business owners, working to help aid in the recovery claims process and are here to help you realize a fair settlement under your policy to help you recover and get your business and life back on its feet. Whenever major storm events like this occur a common question we get from callers is to explain what a Public Adjuster does and why they should hire one. Many callers have never had to deal with a property claim before and frankly have not heard of Public Adjusters. To avoid having our readers searching the web for these answers and hopefully the hype, I’ve placed the information we try to relay below.

If your home was destroyed or severely damaged from the recent Nashville area tornadoes to the extent that it is uninhabitable for you or your family to live, your insurance policy may provide a coverage called “Additional Living Expense” or “A.L.E.” Under the Additional Living Expense coverage, you and your family may be entitled to rent another home of the same size, like kind and quality as well as be reimbursed for any extra expenses you may incur such as food and temporary lodging.  Please keep in mind that this coverage is based on what you “incur” meaning you have to spend the money first before your insurance company will reimburse you. This is why you need to keep receipts for all transactions or keep all of your transactions on one credit card so you can easily print your statement out for your adjuster.

The Nashville area tornadoes have clearly left many homeowners, businesses, schools, cities and government buildings with significant damage and Tennesseans need to understand some of the basic insurance claim adjusting procedures that will play an important role to achieve a fair, expeditious and maximum claim settlement. Insurance companies and their teams of catastrophe adjusters may be delayed in gaining access to the region due to government emergency restrictions and given the significant damage sustained at the John C. Tune Airport in West Nashville. The Airport Authority estimated loss and damages to the infrastructure and other buildings is $93 million alone. Here are some tips and common mistakes to avoid while preparing yourself for the insurance claim process.

Thousands throughout the Volunteer State continue to pour into regions of Middle Tennessee including the historic state capital city of Nashville to aid recovery efforts following Tuesday’s severe weather and deadly tornados. The Governor’s recent State of Emergency declaration will create a logistical nightmare for insurance companies who are scrambling to deploy teams of catastrophe adjusters to service Tennesseans who need to file insurance claims and collect monies that are vital to rebuild their damaged homes and affected businesses. 

In 2011, investigative reporter, Ms. Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune won a Pulitzer Prize for her investigative reporting that produced multiple news articles examining Florida’s murky property insurance system vital to Florida’s property owners.  Ms. St. John provided helpful data for consumers to evaluate their insurance company’s (and the industry) reliability, sustainability, and ultimately uncovered how State regulators and insurance company lobbyists oftentimes put the best interests of Florida’s insurance consumers at risk, while at the same time “big insurance” continues to roll the dice and gamble to cash in.  This is a recurring theme that takes place at the same time each year as politicians report to Tallahassee, FL to fulfill their promises while seemingly ignoring their obligations.

This year, the mayhem began on January 7, 2020 when Florida’s Senate Banking and Insurance Committee introduced legislation via House Bill (HB 1137) that is “all about consumer protection.”  The proposed language written in the Bill is being championed by Florida CFO, Mr. Jimmy Patronis who is a native Floridian born and raised in Panama City where Hurricane Michael roared ashore in October 2018.

This year, the Tutwiler Public Adjusters’ sleigh-team went all-out
To reward many kiddos who were all good and had no pout!

Bringing downtown Tampa much needed holiday joy and cheer
To over 150 children, whose school was near.
All were there - Santa, his elves, helpers and Roscoe the red-nosed Reindeer.

Basic necessities were brought
Such as hundreds of pounds of clothing and items, which Tutwiler sought.

But the Tutwiler team did not stop there
They collected Christmas cookies & juice boxes for all to share.

All the boys and girls were SO surprised,
as can be seen by their big ol’ bright open EYES!

Happy Holidays to all from the Tutwiler Public Adjusters team.

As reports and video of the Hurricane Dorian devastation come in, the devastation and human tragedy is mind numbing. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in the Bahamas and with those who will be part of the relief efforts. We expect the impacted areas to be unsafe for Public Adjusters and other professionals for some time. For those who are so inclined, I wanted to share a very good Hurricane Dorian Donation article from NPR on reputable organizations that will be at the forefront of the relief effort and also a list of supplies needed. In the meantime, we will do what we can to answer policyholder insurance claim questions regarding Hurricane Dorian damage and steps they should be taking. I challenge everyone, especially those in the insurance claims industry to find a way to donate to the Bahama’s relief effort.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all those impacted by Hurricane Dorian. Preliminary reports indicate 13,000 structures destroyed and $25 billion in damage, not to mention the catastrophic flooding. As I’ve listened to all the anxious questions from callers concerned about Dorian and conferred with our Florida Public Adjuster professionals, one common theme prevailed.

Historically, Labor Day storms have not been kind to Florida and Hurricane Dorian has proven to be no exception.  Although Dorian’s final trajectory and impact on Florida remains uncertain, many State agencies, aerospace companies, businesses and thousands of residents have spent millions of dollars bracing for Dorian and its potential for an unprecedented impact. Our public adjuster staff is not sure if we will be heading into a Cat 5 disaster area to help with insurance claims or fielding calls from minor damage.   

No doubt about it, Hurricane Dorian is coming to Florida. We just don’t quite know where yet as the path continues to evolve. Currently, our firm is fielding many calls from prior clients and many others who are actively seeking professional claims representation in the event Hurricane Dorian causes damage to their property.  As such, our expert adjusters are working tirelessly to prepare communities and clients for the inevitable.  Before it’s too late, we encourage everyone to contact their Insurance Agent to obtain copies of their policies and ask the right questions so that they understand their Coverages, Policy Limits, Exclusions, Deductibles, etc.