Hurricane Damage: Multi-family Structure

Many residents suffered a catastrophic loss when Hurricane Laura made landfall in Cameron, Louisiana, on August 27, 2020. In addition, several multi-family management companies and owners had to relocate their tenants. Six weeks later, Hurricane Delta devastated the same region, making it difficult for insurance companies to differentiate between the damage from each hurricane.

Description

A new sizable multi-family property in Louisiana was occupied by residents for only four months before suffering windstorm damage during Hurricane Laura. Then, just weeks later - additional damage occurred due to Hurricane Delta.

The property owner hired Jansen/Adjusters International as their public adjusting firm to work on this case, with CEO Art Jansen as the primary adjuster for the claim.

The client suffered property damage from two hurricanes six weeks apart during the time when the COVID-19 pandemic was rampant. As a result, the apartment complex owners were required to undertake a massive mitigation effort while experiencing a building materials shortage. Mitigation workers had nowhere to stay and needed to be bussed in and out of the region. In addition, the client's insurance policy had many layers of coverage and limitations making for a complex adjustment process.

Issues

The Jansen/AI team worked diligently to develop an agreed scope of loss for all the damage, which included 288 residential units in 12 buildings, numerous garages and carports, and the leasing office.

Therefore, the damage caused by Hurricane Laura exhausted the insurance policy limit. Because of a reinstatement clause in the policy, coverage was available when Hurricane Delta struck six weeks later. If the "scope of loss" for the damages caused by Laura had not been established and accepted by the insurer before the second hurricane occurred, the settlement of both claims would have taken more time and not been as thorough as needed.

Solutions Applied

The cooperation between the Jansen/AI team and the insurance company's representatives allowed the client to receive proper compensation for both Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Delta damages. While the insurance company hired a consulting firm to prepare estimates of damage on their behalf, the Jansen/AI team also secured the services of a Forensic CPA and an expert disaster mitigation company. Every day, over 200 people were at the property removing wet sheetrock, drying out damp buildings, hauling debris, and establishing moisture mapping in 288 affected units. The CPA was able to accurately project the total impact that the property damage losses had on the business's operations to substantiate the business interruption claims.

For this case, Jansen/Adjusters International performed:

Public Adjustment of the property damage and calculation of the Business Interruption
Drone Services
Moisture Mapping
Management of the mitigation company

The Jansen/AI team and the insurer's representatives walked through the damage every day for 45 days. These daily trips to the site enabled all parties to develop a preliminary estimate to agree upon, which eventually led to an agreement for all the damages. This process also helped to make it possible to secure sufficient interim funds to keep the client operational. The client received an advance payment against the building claim and another against the business income claim to enable necessary cash flow, pay their bills and their employees, and have the ability to order materials when they were scarce and prices were inflated.

Outcome

Our work resulted in a $36 million settlement: $28 million for the losses resulting from Hurricane Laura and $8 million for those brought on by Hurricane Delta. These settlement amounts included $12 million for mitigation and $5-$6 million for business interruption loss.

Less than a year later, the apartment community was back in business with 70 percent tenant occupancy. By the end of summer 2021, our client surpassed their original operating expectations. Our public adjusters kept everything well organized and successfully helped to mitigate the losses and to help secure advance payments to allow the business to remain afloat.

In business since 1978, Jansen/Adjusters International is one of the industry's largest and most respected public adjusting firms. We handle the entire claims process, from thoroughly reviewing insurance coverage to completing detailed valuations on losses and formulating business interruption claims. In addition, we negotiate with the insurance company on behalf of our clients and keep them informed every step of the way.