Can an Insured Submit a Supplemental Flood Proof of Loss If the Insurer Has Already Paid the Initial Proof of Loss?

The National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) permits an insured to file a supplemental Proof of Loss that adds or changes an earlier submitted version. To be valid, the supplemental Proof of Loss must be filed within 60 days of the loss. No exception allows the insured to submit a supplemental Proof of Loss after the 60 days, even if the insured later determines that the flood damage it sustained exceeds the amount stated in the original Proof of Loss.

Even if the supplemental Proof of Loss is timely filed, additional payments are not authorized under the provisions of the standard flood insurance policy if the insured has already accepted payment for the full amount on its initial Proof of Loss. Therefore, once a claim on a flood insurance policy has been adjusted, fully paid and accepted, an insured is not entitled to submit a supplemental claim even upon subsequent discovery that the severity of damage was greater than first thought.¹

For more information on other issues relating to flood insurance policies, please join me this afternoon, Thursday, September 17, 2020, at 2-4pm for a webinar on National Flood Insurance Basics For Public Adjusters. Jason Cieri, Esq. will also be presenting on Rules, Timelines, & Deadlines When Adjusting on a Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cash Value Basis.

Click here to register for the free webinar. Public adjuster attendees of this webinar can receive 2 CE credits in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
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¹ Ambassador Beach Condo. v. Omaha Prop. and Cas. Ins. Co., 152 F.Supp.2d 1315 (N.D. Fla. 2001).