A man was interviewed on the news this morning and he said that his insurance company would not cover the storm damage to his camper and vehicle because he did not move them 100 miles out of the storm area prior to the storm. I have never heard of such a thing. Is this something insurance companies are doing now? Perhaps some people who work in insurance can explain what is going on.
Not an insurance guy, but here is my take on it.
Insurance covers unforseen circumstances which generally you cannot avoid. If there is a danger, you are expected to attempt to limit your exposure. Lets say that you insure your camper for $100 a year with a full replacement policy. There is a storm coming and you have an opportunity to move it out of the way but do not. You figure that $100 is cheap enough to get a new camper. In fact, to ensure you get that new camper, you drive towards the storm, maybe parking next to a river ready to overflow.
Car insurance policies expect you to lock your vehicle. Home policys probably require you to remove nearby trees which could come down on your roof in a storm. In my case, my homeowners policy has eliminated water damage through the roof, because the roof is so old and has never been replaced.
In reality, insurance companys want you to do pretty much all you can do so they don’t have to pay on the claim.
They don’t. I have 100 year old oak in my front yard and a 100 year old maple in the back. I keep them trimmed but that didn’t stop a wind storm from dropping a 2 ton branch on my house. But there are so many trees in older neighborhoods here that you often can’t see the houses. When I renewed this year I found I have 2 dedudibles one for wind and hail (the most common here) and another for everything else.
I didn’t see the interview mentioned but I do believe that there were evacuation orders in some areas and that may be their loophole - if the car and camper were left there they may not be willing to cover them.
I assume we’re talking about Helene?
My perspective, how would you know which way to go? Yes, we had a very good idea of the track, but it can - and did, easily move side to side. The storm itself was about 350 miles wide.
I live in Charlotte, NC. The storm woke me up very early in morning and I was a bit nervous. Once it became light, got up and had a few branches and lots of leaves in the yard. My neighborhood didn’t really look any different than what you’d see from a thunderstorm. However, driving about 3 miles away, there was a lot of damage, people without power, internet etc. for the last 3 days. It totally looked like a different landscape and it was all a matter of miles.
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The western Carolina’s had very little warning. My son and his family, and my nephew are in the hardest hit areas of South and North Carolina (normally about 40 minutes apart). All are safe. Lots of huge fallen trees on both properties. No serious damage on my son’s…just a lot of future firewood. Judging from a picture my nephew sent, his roommates cars were totaled when a tree fell on the carport…they certainly had a huge amount of damage. He had moved his car, so it survived. My son’s power will be out until Friday evening at the latest estimate. No idea on my nephews.
I have to believe that the person mentioned in the OP was on the coast. North Carolina didn’t have an evacuation orders so I can’t see the giving that as an excuse. The part that is devastating is that the bulk of the damage in the Carolinas is flooding and I doubt that very many had flood insurance.
You are correct about flood insurance. That is a separate policy.
For those who have claims, it is most likely too late to do anything about the coverage. For everyone else, I suppose we had better take a good look at our insurance policies and see specifically what is excluded and why.
They were not on the coast. The storm went over the western border of NC/eastern border of Tenn. The coast where I live (Outer Banks of NC) had little effects from the storm. And is very far from the mountains. Flood insurance is very common where I live. Probably no one in the mountains thinks about flood insurance.