As the nation marked the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with memorials and celebrations, all along the Gulf Coast the milestone was marked with fundraisers. Time may have moved on for the majority of Americans, but in states like Louisiana and Mississippi, there is still work to be done and there are still re building efforts underway. As a part of the Gulf Coast community, Florida public adjuster Tutwiler and Associates has worked with property owners in these and several other states and they say things have certainly changed from a property insurance standpoint since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana five years ago.

The licensed and certified public adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates, with offices throughout Florida and in nine other states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, say there are many lessons learned as a result of the insurance claims process stemming from Hurricane Katrina. This storm was a wake up call about the insurance coverage issue of trying to determine what damage was caused by wind and what was caused by the flooding in the aftermath. While the storm was one of the five deadliest hurricanes and the sixth strongest hurricane overall in U.S. history, the property insurance claim experts at Tutwiler and Associates say a silver lining to the storm has emerged five years later.

"If we can take anything positive away from Hurricane Katrina, it’s that it was a big learning lesson across the board," says Rick Tutwiler, one of Tutwiler and Associates’ property insurance experts. “People now know how important it is to have a flood policy in addition to their homeowner’s wind policy. On a government level, on an individual level, and certainly on a property insurance policy level, so much of what we do now is based on the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina five years ago."

Those damages continue to be felt all along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history and, according to a National Hurricane Center report, caused more than $81 billion dollars in total property damage. Tutwiler and Associates has offices with licensed and certified public adjusters throughout the Gulf Coast and they say while there is certainly no predicting just how powerful or damaging a storm can be, property owners can do a handful of things to ensure they recover a fair and honest settlement from their insurance policies in the event of a major property loss.

“Document your property as much as you can and as extensively as you can,” says Tutwiler. “Take pictures of the property before the loss . Keep a log of model numbers, serial numbers, and receipts. Being proactive will help expedite the claim and give the property owner a better chance at recovering what they paid for their property.”

The Florida public adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates say while this property certainly includes “big ticket” personal property items like appliances, electronics, and furniture, property owners shouldn’t neglect structural pieces of their property as well. This includes documenting the conditions of things like the roof and as well as other structural components of the insured building. A positive take away from Hurricane Katrina should be that everyone should now be aware of the difference between a flood loss which is not covered in most property policies and the wind coverage in their property insurance policy. Be prepared, always be prepared.

For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com.

CONTACT:
Tutwiler and Associates
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Phone: (800) 321-4488
For more information, please visit www.PublicAdjuster.com

About Tutwiler and Associates: Tutwiler and Associates is a firm of public adjusters licensed in 10 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands specializing in commercial and residential property loss adjusting. With well in excess of $113 million in client success stories over a 27-year history, the Florida public adjusters work exclusively on behalf of policyholders to help them achieve the maximum settlement amounts they can fairly and honestly recover based on their loss and their policy provisions. Professional help from the adjusters at Tutwiler and Associates can help clients obtain a fair recovery under their policy. The Gulf Coast based public adjuster firm is committed to public service and strives to educate its clients about commercial and residential windstorm and hurricane losses, flood damage, fire, smoke and water damage, collapse, hidden decay and mold losses, sinkholes, loss of stock, and business interruption.