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(Continuing the Hinton Daily News & The Weekend Leader)
of "W. Va. Water Festival"
Volume 114 No. 9
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday July 12, 2016 "
50 Cents
overy
en
Public Adjuster Offers Insurance Claim Advice to
West Virginia Flood Victims
Summary: Native West Virginian and Public Insurance Adjuster Charles R. "Dick" Tutwiler offers advice on
how fellow West Virginians can navigate flood insurance claims and possibly recoup some of their losses even if
they don't have flood insurance.
Tampa, FL. Growing up in
Beckley and then Huntington,
West Virginia, Dick Tutwiler was
familiar with the flash flooding that
came with heavy rains. But nothing
could have prepared him for the
extreme flooding footage he saw
and what is now being classified as
a 100 year flood event in his native
Southern West Virginia. The career:
property insurance specialist who
founded and has operated Tutwiler
& Associates Public Adjusters,
headquartered in Tampa, Florida,
since 1984 has seen his share of
extreme weather. His firm has
helped disaster victims (most
recently Superstorm Sandy in
New York) navigate the sometimes
confusing insurance claims process.
"I thought it would be helpful and
hopefully educational to reach out
be covered in their policy, flooding
conditions must meet the following
conditions: "A flood is a temporary
condition where two or more acres
of normally dry land or two or
more properties are inundated by
water or mudflow," according to the
NFIP manual. Property owners
can reference the consumer NFIP
Handbooktounderstandwhat is and
is not covered under the policy. And
because it is a federal program this
coverage will be applied uniformly
across the U.S., regardless of where
a flood loss happened and in spite
of any state insurance rebmlations
or state statues.
But what if you don't have flood
insurance as many of the property
owners in West Virginia may not
exclusions) causes damages, then
maybe a policy other than flood
would provide coverage to pay for
damages that were likely to have
occurred to the property before the
floodwaters either washed away a
building or significantly damaged
it.
Mr. Tutwiler's experience with
-these types of events is that most
insurers will not volunteer to
make payments under any other
covered loss where flooding caused
significant damages. "But it does
not hurt to press them regarding
other possible covered items that
may have damaged your property
before it was flooded or washed
away, exclaims Tutwiler. In
addition, if you have a mortgage
have. Are they out of luck? "Maybe on your property, most lenders
not, says Mr. Tutwiler. The facts of have their portfolios insured and
A Disaster Recovery Center has
opened in Summers County to help
survivors affected by the severe
storms, flooding, landslides and
mudslides that began June 22.
Disaster Recovery Centers serve
as one-stop shops for eligible storm
survivors seeking one-on-one help.
Representatives from the Federal
Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA), the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) and various
state agencies are at the centers to
answer questions. Centers are open
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week
until further notice. All centers will
be open July 4.
The centers currently open are:
Greenbrier County
Mobile Disaster Recovery
Center
Southeastern Labor Council,
AFL-CIO
65 West Main St.
White Sulphur Springs, WV
24986
Town Hall
201 Kanawha Ave.
Rainelle, WV 25962
Kanawha County
Kanawha County School
Operations Center
3300 Pennsylvania Ave.
Charleston, WV 25302
Nicholas County
City of Richwood City Hall
6 White Ave.
Richwood, WV 26261
Summers County
Summers County Memorial
Building gym
451 1st Ave.
Hinton, WV 25951
State and FEMA officials
and share my firm's knowledge,"
said Mr. Tutwiler who is also a
proud Marshall University Alum.
'The most important and often
confusing part of water damage
claims is that policyholders need to
distinguish between a flood event
and a water loss, since these terms
are often misused in the property
insurance world. Water losses are
the most frequent claims that are
By: Barbara Daniels
For decades Fayette andotherWV
counties were the dumping grounds
for toxic waste. So on Jan.12, with
one of the highest cancer rates in
West Virginia, a state where cancer
rates are projected to rise faster
than anywhere else in the US,
Fayette County passed an historic
ordinance banning industrial waste
dumping.
However, on June 10, behind
a loss need to be closely looked at to there is a good chance your home closed doors and without a
seeifsomeotherinsurancecoverage or business (while not covered by hearing, Federal Judge John T.
under their standard homeowner's a government flood policy) may be Copenhaver ruled that WV Dept.
policy or business property policy covered under your lenders policy, of Environmental Protection
may kick in. Mr. Tutwiler explains This may benefit you if your lender (DEP) permits to dump HHF
that when flooding occurs like receives funds to cover their loss waste override counties' authority
the one that devastated parts of and potentially may extinguish or
reduce your mortgage obligation to
southern West Virginia, other
events were likely happening at your lender. Call your lender and
ask them if your mortgage is in the
the same time or in close proximity
to the rising water." Events like pool that insures all the properties
granted by WV State Code to
protect themselves.
Judge Copenhaver, who has
recused himself from many natural
gas cases, may a have decided
continue to work closely with local
officials in hard-hit areas to identify
suitable sites for additional centers.
Survivors can locate the center
closest to them, by visiting http://
go.usa.gov/x3NnJ or downloading
the FEMA App to their mobile
device to:
Apply for disaster assistance
Get directions to the nearest
Disaster Recovery Center
Find shelter locations
Get weather alerts
Subscribe to disaster safety tips
Survivors do not have to visit
a Disaster Recovery Center to
register with FEMA.
Those who have not yet
registered can do so by visiting
DisasterAssistance.gov. Survivors
may also register by calling toll-
free 800-621-3362. For those
who use 711 or the Visual Relay
Service, call 800-462-7585. FEMA
encourages survivors to register as
soon as possible.
Disaster assistance may include
grants to help homeowners and
renters pay for temporary housing,
essential home repairs, personal
property replacement, and other
serious disaster-related needs not
covered by insurance.
SBA offers low-interest disaster
loans for businesses of all sizes,
homeowners, renters, and private
non-profit organizations. SBA
disaster loans may cover repairs,
rebuilding, as well as the cost of
replacing lost or disaster-damaged
real estate and personal property.
For more information about
SBA loans, call SBA's Disaster
Assistance Customer Service
Center at 800-659-2955, email
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov,
or visit http://www.sba.gov/disaster.
TTY users may call 800-877-
8339. Applicants may also apply
online using the Electronic Loan
Application (ELA) via SBA's secure
website at https://disasterloan.sba.
gov/ela.
For more information on West
Virginia's disaster recovery, visit
fema.gov/disaster/4273, twitter.
com/FEMA, facebook.com/FEMA,
and fema,gov/blog.
FEMA's mission is to support
our citizens and first responders
to ensure that as a nation we work
together to build, sustain, and
improve our capability to prepare
for, protect against, respond to,
recover from, and mitigate all
hazards.
Disaster recovery assistance is
available without regard to race,
color, religion, nationality, sex, age,
disability, English proficiency or
economic status. If you or someone
you know has been discriminated
against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-
621-3362 (voice, 711 or video relay
service). TTY users can call 800-
462-7585.
The U.S. Small Business
Administration is the federal
government's primary source of
money to help business of all sizes,
private non-profit organizations,
homeowners and renters rebuild
and recover after a disaster. SBA
low interest disaster loans repair
and replace property losses not
fully compensated by insurance
and do not duplicate benefits of
other agencies.
ess
too informative. One day before
the court date, he canceled all
testimony.
With assistance from natural
gas lobbyists, the same DEP whose
authority the Judge upheld, has
instituted three West Virginia
laws that seriously threaten public
health.
One classifies all gas and oil-
field wastes as harmless, no
matter how toxic or radioactive.
Another prohibits notification
of the chemicals in horizontal
hydrofracturing (HHF) fluid to
anyone--including first responders.
The third law allows tanks
storing HHF waste to be owner-
monitored. This is critical because
this radioactive, extremely
corrosive material, which the DEP
with a Freedom of Information Act
request, the I~EP will not disclose
the tanks' locations.
Similarly i~yolved, the WV
Bureau of Public Health's Source
Water Protection Plan for water
utilities bans public information
indicating the whereabouts, size
and contents of any large potential
pollution sources.
Public knowledge is necessary to
curb corporate irresponsibility, but
WV agencies appear to be shielding
industry--not our health. What are
they hiding?
' In light of such obstruction,
West Virginians are at risk until
and unless this dangerous ruling,
applying to all WV counties, is
reversed.
There are over 600 of these
calls '~brine", can contain over 500 poorly-regulated, HHF-waste
different chemicals and heavy disposal wells scattered across
reported to insurance companies, pounding rainwater against homes they haveloaned money on. If so, file theevidence in this case was metals, many highly toxic.Yet, even West Virginia.
a claim and a proof of loss with your
Generally speaking most property and buildings, rainwater ponding mortgage holder for the amount of Hinton City Council passes new
insurance policies cover these types on roofs, high winds with flying
of losses but the water damage debris, sewer-backups and the list yourMr.mortgage,'Tutwilerhe sayS.also reminds tSt t Cod
has to occur from an event inside could go on and on depending on the those filing flood claims that Vacan rue are e
a building or home," exclaimsfacts issues of each provertv or the
Tutwiler. Examples include; specific geographic location. In fact, FEMA will not distribute money
broken water lines, water that one property can have completely (with the exception of emergency On Tuesday~June 21st Hinton of vacant buildings shall register registration. These buildings
overflows from an appliance such different fact issues or patterns of funds) until they are satisfied City Council passed a new them with the City and conform could be homes and businesses for
as a dishwasher, a hot water heater damages than their neighbor next that all possible private insurance ordinance to regulate vacant to all conditions set forth in the interested people but some of.them
break orarupturedicemakerlinedoor or other property owners blocks has been claimed and paid. In structures in the city limits in order ordinance. The city will not be have fallen into major disrepair just
to name a few. For these types of or miles away," says Tutwiler. other words, policyholders must
losses to be covered they have to be
sudden and accidental. Long-term
water leaking issues are generally
excluded. "But for those who are
covered for a water loss, a common
mistake insured policyholders
often make is to report them as a
flood loss. While it may seem 1.ike a
flood to the policyholder, reporting
a water loss as a flood is a sure bet
to get you off to a wrong start wit__
your property insurer," states Mr.
Tutwiler.
In contrast, a flood loss occurs
when water originates from outside
a building or home. It's rising
water. "If this water enters into the
building, it will not be covered under
most standard insurance property
policy forms," said Mr. Tutwiler.
Insurance coverage for flooding
falls under the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP) which
a property owner must purchase.
The NFIP even has a definition for
a flood event. In order for a flood to
"In a scenario with different
causes of loss (depending on when
and how they impacted the insured
property) you may find yourself in
the murky waters of legal terms
like concurrent causation, anti-
concurrent causation, efficient
proximate cause and similar
terms that have evolved with the
expansion of insurance coverage's
, such as all risk coverage as well as
exclusions that are written to be
exceptions to all risk forms, states
Tutwiler. West Virginia does not
allow insurance forms with anti-
concurrent causation language but
instead uses the efficient proximate
cause doctrine."
What this means for some West
Virginia policyholders is that it may
allow for some type of insurance
recovery from property polices
other than flood. As an example, if
wind, water or some other covered
peril (remember all risk means all
risk from anything other than the
pursue all available insurance
from private policies they have
purchased before FEMA will step
in. This can be a big burden on the
policyholder especially given the
stress and recovery issues they are
going through, not to mention the
complex insurance policy terms
and conditions, he says.
For those who do have flood
insurance, Mr. Tutwiler canvassed
his staff of public adjusters and
asked them to share some of their
best flood claim tips for policyholders
who have flood coverage.
Flood Damage Claim Tips
1. Take photographs of all
damaged content items including
discarded objects, structural
damage you intend to claim.
2. Take photographs of the
water line (standing flood water
levels) both inside and outside the
residence. Note how long the water
remained in the house if possible.
Continued pg. 8
to protect the health, safety, and
welfare of the public. The City has
determined that uninspected and
unmonitored vacant buildings may
present a fire hazard, may provide
temporary occupancy for transients
and drug users, may detract from
efforts to rehabilitate or maintain
surrounding properties and that the
health and safety and welfare of the
public is served by the regulation
of such vacant structures. Owners
issuing any fines until the property
has been vacant for at least one
year. Hinton City Council agreed
that this was something that was
needed in order to elin~inate the
blighted properties all over town
that need demolished and are
just setting vacant waiting for
someone to burn or steal all of the
copper from. The code enforcement
officer has already identified over
150 buildings that would require
from lack of regular maintenance.
City code enforcement will be
registering properties at city hall
and owners should call to get their
properties registered before August
1st or they may be charged a fee
for registration. All fees charges by
the program will go into a separate
fund to pay for demolition of vacant
structures. For more, information
on the code it can be found on the
city website.
Flooding Damage to Roads Tops $45 Million
The West Virginia Division of
Highways announces that road
damage from recent flooding now
totals $46,859,290.
More than a dozen contractors
have been hired to restore access
to communities and repair major
routes. WVDOH crews from around
the state have been mobilized in the
impacted areas to remove debris
and slides from roadways, stabilize
embankments and shoulders, and
cle~/r ditches and culverts. The
DOH is currently working to put
additional repair projects out for
contract work.
'~There are some roads that
will have to be totally rebuilt and
several bridges that need replaced,"
stated Secretary of Transportation
Paul Mattox. '"With more than 150
roads damaged by these storms, it
will take some time to effectively
make these necessary repairs."
Nineteen counties have reported
road damage. At this time, counties •
reporting the most roadway damage
are:
Kanawha: $13,551,500
Clay: $8,354,000
Nicholas: $8,337,285