If your property suffered flood damage from Winter Storm Jonas on January 22, 2016 through January 31, 2016, and you will be submitting a claim to submit to your flood insurance carrier, this blog is for you.
A few days after Winter Storm Jonas, Robert Trautmann, in our firm’s Red Bank, NJ office, wrote an informative blog reminding policyholders of the requirements for submitting a flood proof of loss and the stringent 60 day deadline to submit the proof of loss and supporting documentation.
On Thursday, March 17, 2016, David I. Maurstad, Assistant Administrator for Federal Insurance, Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) issued Bulletin W-16015 that notified policyholders that they now have an additional 30 days to submit a proof of loss:
Properties insured by the NFIP in the state of New Jersey experienced flood losses as a result of a severe winter storm beginning January 22, 2016. In many instances, access to NFIP-insured buildings is not possible due to damage to the infrastructure and high water. These conditions may delay the claims process for many NFIP policyholders, and NFIP policyholders may encounter difficulties filing a timely proof of loss for claims arising from this event.
To ensure that NFIP policyholders have sufficient time to finalize their claims, pursuant to Paragraph D of the General Conditions section of the SFIPs and 44 C.F.R §61.13 (d), I hereby authorize an additional 30-day extension of the time period within which a policyholder must submit the requisite signed and sworn-to proof of loss with their NFIP insurer. With this extension, an NFIP policyholder will have a total of 90 days after the date of loss to provide the completed, signed, and sworn-to proof of loss to the insurer. This limited waiver and extension shall apply to all NFIP claims for the flood damage related to the New Jersey flooding occurring January 22, 2016 through January 31, 2016. This limited waiver and extension applies to SFIPs issued directly by FEMA or by private insurance companies participating in the NFIP’s Write Your Own Program
Emphasis added.
While you might be relieved to have an additional 30 days, it will be here before you know it. It is unlikely that there will be a further extension.
