After a weekend filled with shoveling snow and sledding with my family, I spent Sunday evening responding to some emails and reading news coverage of the blizzard that dumped at least a foot of snow in every county of New Jersey (many areas, like my home, got close to 30 inches). What was unusual about this storm was the extreme wind that pushed a tremendous amount of water ashore and caused substantial flooding. In some areas, reports state that the flooding is worse than Superstorm Sandy. Some of the photographs are shocking:
Given the widespread flooding, I thought it would be a good opportunity to provide everyone with a reminder about flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP) requires that all policyholders provide a sworn proof of loss within sixty days of the loss. The proof of loss form can be found here.
Sixty days is not a lot of time to get estimates, engineering reports, and other documents to support your claim so it is important to get moving on this immeiditatly. After many widespread flooding events, FEMA has been known to extend the time to file a proof loss—Hurricaine Sandy claimants had two years to do so. However, given the localized nature of this flooding event, I would not anticipate such long extensions for floods caused by Winter Storm Jonas.
For tips on filling out the proof of loss forms, see the below articles. If you have any questions or need help putting your claims together and filing a proof of loss, please feel free to contact me.
Proofs of Loss Actual Cash Value and Contents
National Flood Proof of Loss Deadline on Monday – Are You Sure the Proof is Right?
Flood Proofs of Loss Must be Timely, Signed, Sworn, and Submitted by the Policyholder
National Flood Proofs of Loss – Video Blog
Proof of Loss Tips for National Flood Claims Involving Superstorm Sandy
