Hurricane Harvey Claims
In late August 2017 near Rockport, Texas, Hurricane Harvey became the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Harvey caused unprecedented flooding in parts of coastal Texas, including catastrophic inland flooding in the Greater Houston area. Rainfall levels reached records levels throughout Southeast Houston, exceeding 50 inches in some areas of Houston. Hurricane Harvey is expected to be one of the worst natural disasters in Texas history. Economic losses have been estimated as high as 180 billion.
Flooding (as a result of the unrelenting and historic rainfall) from Hurricane Harvey caused significant property and other damage. By some accounts, more than 50% of properties in Houston at High and Moderate risk of flood were not even in designated flood zones (i.e., Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)) as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Partly as a result of this, it has been estimated by certain insurance analysts that the majority of the losses caused by Hurricane Harvey won’t be covered by insurance.
Private residential and commercial insurance policies generally cover wind damage, and in some cases, water damage due to wind-driven rain or storm surge. Accordingly, the determination of what caused damage to your property may be of utmost importance. It has been estimated that less than 40 percent of the losses from Harvey are expected to have the necessary insurance in place—and for those properties that don’t have the needed insurance coverage—the federal government may very well bear the biggest liability.
The attorneys at Grisham & Kendall, PLLC have previously represented many residential and commercial property owners in Texas and Florida who have suffered hurricane damage to their property. Robert Grisham and Bill Kendall are both from Texas originally and each attended law school in Texas—Mr. Kendall to the University of Houston Law Center and Mr. Grisham to Texas Wesleyan University of Law in Fort Worth, Texas. Our attorneys have assisted homeowners and commercial property owners with their first-party property insurance disputes for more than 20 years. Our firm and attorneys work in the area of first-party property losses representing insureds with their property insurance disputes against the insurance company. Representative loss types in which our attorneys have represented residential and commercial property owners include claims for damages related to hurricane, fire, foundation movement, hail, wind, tornado, storm, plumbing leaks, water damage, among other types of loss. We only represent policyholders, including individual home owners and large commercial entities, against their insurer.
If you have sustained damage from Hurricane Harvey, you may want to discuss and review your rights and obligations under your insurance policy with experienced and qualified legal counsel. In light of some of the issues affecting coverage following Hurricane Harvey (as well as determining which policy may apply in some instances), obtaining wise and timely advice from a qualified attorney may be helpful and provide peace of mind from the beginning. Whether you are a homeowner, business owner or property manager with a hurricane wind or flood claim, our attorneys may be able to help. During the more than 20 years representing policyholders with their property claims against their insurance companies, we have obtained the experience needed to know how to constructively deal with your insurance company and their vast network of adjusters, experts and attorneys. If your insurance company ultimately delays, wrongly denies or underpays your insurance claim, you may be owed damages under your insurance policy.
CONTACT ATTORNEYS WITH EXPERIENCE REPRESENTING INSUREDS WHOSE PROPERTY HAS BEEN DAMAGED BY A TEXAS HURRICANE
If you believe you may need the assistance of an attorney to assist you with your hurricane-related property insurance claim, please call (214) 308-2027 to discuss your case. We look forward to speaking with you.
