Mennonite
Central
Committee

MCC assists homeowners negotiating insurance claims after Hurricane Katrina

March 6, 2006

Owners of hurricane-damaged homes in the New Orleans area have more to sort through than the rubble left by floodwaters or high winds. Even six months after the storm, some homeowners are still dealing with homeowner's insurance and flood insurance claims and trying to determine how much it will cost to repair their homes.

MCC local hurricane response workers in the New Orleans suburbs of Metairie and Harahan are helping.

At Amor Viviente in Metairie, Louisiana, MCC worker Blanca Mackay has helped compile and fax documents to companies as homeowners negotiate complex claims and helped Spanish-speaking people fill out paperwork in English.

In Harahan, MCC worker Lawrence Velasquez, pastor of Comunidad Cristiana Internacional, draws on his experience in the construction business to work with homeowners to ensure that the repairs can be done for the amount quoted by insurance companies.

Dealing with an insurance claim is not as simple as filing a single piece of paperwork. Forms are submitted. The company responds, and the homeowner often needs to write back.

"It's a back and forth thing, and it's very time-consuming," said Mackay.

Mackay worked with a homeowner, Berta Lopez, whose home received 6 feet of water. In addition, a branch fell on the house, breaking the gutter and damaging the roof. Like most of the homeowners Mackay has worked with, Lopez had both homeowner's insurance and flood insurance.

Flood insurance typically covers damage from the water line down, while homeowner's insurance is typically for damage above the water line. However, in this case, homeowner's insurance would not cover a crack on the ceiling. This insurance doesn't cover water damage, and they said the water shifted the foundation of the house, causing the crack.

Many people, she said, are not receiving enough money to completely repair their homes. "It's a very sticky situation," Mackay said. She expressed gratitude for Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS), which is working with people to help cut costs for repairs that aren't covered.

For some insurance companies, the amount of the deductible grows for claims from hurricane damage.

Mackay lost fencing and a refrigerator. A crack now runs along about 6 feet of her ceiling. "My deductible ate most of the money I was going to receive. I ended up with almost nothing. It's not enough to repair the crack."

She did receive enough to buy a new refrigerator, but her husband worked on the fence himself, spending close to $500 in materials alone.

Most of the homeowners Mackay works with do not get reimbursed enough to fully repair damage. And the process of getting money back can be time-consuming. Mackay said payments from flood insurance are paid through mortgage companies in some cases and homeowners must issue receipts to the mortgage companies before getting reimbursed.

Even Mackay, who worked for a dozen years in a life insurance company, finds the process complex.

"It's so complicated," she said. "People are really going through so much."

 

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