The deadline to reopen a Superstorm Sandy flood damage claim has been extended until September 15.
Attendees at the Broad Channel Civic Association last week received “free legal advice” from John Houghtaling, a lawyer from New Orleans who has worked on roughly 1,200 cases in a class action lawsuit accusing Federal Emergency Management Agency-backed insurance companies of fraud on Hurricane Sandy claims.
“You need to get your houses fully inspected, if they’re still standing,” said Houghtaling. “They’ve got to be inspected by an expert. You cannot rely upon FEMA.”
FEMA-backed insurance companies have been accused of falsifying engineering reports, using unlicensed engineers, and lying about the total amount of coverage they offer. FEMA administrator Craig Fugate agreed in March to allow all 144,000 flood claims to be reopened. Houghtaling, New York attorney Bill Kelly, and Texas attorney Steve Mostyn have filed 2,200 cases against insurance companies in U.S. District Court against insurance companies in the National Flood Insurance Program, which is overseen by FEMA.
“There was about 15,000 people who had engineers inspect their houses and we’re going under the assumption that 95 percent of those are falsified in some way,” said Kelly.
Pressures from floodwaters during Sandy broke the foundations of most homes in Broad Channel, new and old. Many engineering reports concluded that foundations were not damaged or were damaged by normal wear.
“What we’re finding is that they underpaid people by an average of $107,000 per claim,” Houghtaling said. As liaison counsel for the court, he has seen enough data from the cases that have been settled that if the trends are correct for all Sandy victims, “They systematically underpaid you.”
The lawyer’s clients do not have to pay back any money to grant programs if they get a larger payout from their insurance company in 99 percent of cases. He can keep clients from having to pay money back to organizations like Build it Back by working with banks holding client’s mortgages and looking intently at exclusions in grant policies.
“My biggest piece of advice is before the September 15 deadline is that you get an expert to go through your house and bill the damages for you,” Houghtaling said.
Contractors, insurance adjusters, and engineers can inspect the damage to victims’ homes, and lawyers can help connect people to independent experts but aren’t absolutely necessary. A law firm should bill clients 33 percent of funds and should front the cost of hiring an expert to inspect their client’s home, the attorney said. His aim was to inform people because “there is a lot of misinformation out there.”
Even though he wouldn’t be able to handle the sheer number of cases if everyone hired his firm, he wants Sandy victims to know their options. Gauthier, Houghtaling, and Williams’ toll-free phone number is 1-844-337-2639, and people can call to get their questions answered without having to hire them.
By Greg Zwiers
John Houghtailing gave legal advice on how and why people should reopen their Sandy flood damage insurance claims at the Broad Channel Civic Association meeting last week. Forum Photos by Greg Zwiers
