Tornado Damage Insurance Claims

Although the movie Twister and most news reports about tornadoes mostly talk about tornadoes in the traditional Tornado Alley states of Oklahoma, Kansas and other Midwestern states, tornadoes occur with much greater frequency in Florida than most people would think or realize.   In 2020, Florida actually led the nation in the number of tornadoes it experienced per 10,000 square miles.  Florida came in first with 12.2 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles, while Kansas was second with 11.7. Oklahoma was a distant seventh place with 9.0 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles.  Similarly, according to a metric calculated by the Weather Channel based on the number of tornadoes each state experienced between 1991 and 2010, Florida ranked third with an average of 66 tornadoes annually behind Texas (155) and Kansas (96) in the rankings of states by their average annual number of tornadoes of all fifty states.

Why Does Florida Have So Many Tornadoes and What do I do about the Tornado Damage? 

The first question that comes to mind for many homeowners is what leads Florida to have so many tornadoes.  Florida has numerous tornadoes simply due to the high frequency of almost daily thunderstorms during certain parts of the year in the Sunshine State, which can easily turn into tornadoes under the right conditions.  Similarly, more and more several tropical storms or hurricanes make landfall in Florida each year and the high winds that accompany these storms can often spin off tornadoes that cause devastation across large parts of the state.

Tornado Damage Can Cause Massive Destruction to Your Home

Much like hurricanes or tropical storms, tornadoes can wreak major destruction upon your home if you are unlucky enough to be the victim of one. A tornado can flatten your entire home and scatter your possessions for miles in every direction, but that does not mean that your insurer will not try to save a few bucks on your tornado claim.  There are a variety of ways that insurers may try to save money at your expense.

One issue that frequently comes with tornado claims that insurers try to save money on is when it comes to the value of your personal property that was destroyed or damaged in a tornado.  Coverage C of your insurance policy provides coverage for any personal property that is damaged or destroyed as a result of a covered loss like a tornado.  An insurer that is resigned to being on the hook for rebuilding your entire home may try to skimp on the value of the personal property that was destroyed in a tornado and either claim your personal property is not worth what it actually is or claim it was not actually destroyed or damaged in the tornado.

Another issue that may come up where your insurer may try to save a few bucks at your expense is rebuilding costs and, specifically, on your insurance policy’s law & ordinance coverage.  Many homes in South Florida are older and, if your home is completely destroyed as a result of a tornado, then it will have to be rebuilt to the current version of the Florida Building Code, which may increase the costs of construction.  The good news is that your insurance policy will typically include coverage for these increased costs of construction under something known as law and ordinance coverage.  However, this is not something that your insurer likely will volunteer that you will need to be on the lookout for as your home is rebuilt.

An experienced public adjuster like David Flaks of PubAdjuster will know how to spot all of the ways that your insurer may try to shortchange you and ensure that your insurer is not able to get away with any of them if you have experienced tornado damage to your home in South Florida.

Contact David Flaks of PubAdjuster if You Have Experienced Tornado Damage in South Florida

Tornadoes are more common than most people would think in Florida.  Not only is Florida unexpectedly one of the hotspots for tornadoes, but insurers will often try to cut corners on these claims because they can be so expensive for the insurer. An experienced public adjuster like David Flaks of PubAdjuster will know how to fight with your insurer to get you every penny you will need to rebuild and put your life back together.  If you have experienced a tornado damage claim, then contact David Flaks of PubAdjuster today at (561) 212-0239.  David will be able to assist you in obtaining maximum compensation for your tornado damage claim.