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The Flood Insurance Claims Process in Communities After Sandy: Lessons Learned and Potential Improvements

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The Flood Insurance Claims Process in Communities After Sandy: Lessons Learned and Potential Improvements S. HRG. 113–483 THE FLOOD INSURANCE CLAIMS PROCESS IN COMMUNITIES AFTER SANDY: LESSONS LEARNED AND POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON EXAMINING THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM’S CLAIM PROCESS IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE SANDY JULY 30, 2014 Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs ( Available at: http://www.fdsys.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 91–460 PDF WASHINGTON : 2015 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:31 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 046629 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 L:\HEARINGS 2014\07-30 ZDISTILL\91460.TXT JASON COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota, Chairman JACK REED, Rhode Island MIKE CRAPO, Idaho CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey BOB CORKER, Tennessee SHERROD BROWN, Ohio DAVID VITTER, Louisiana JON TESTER, Montana MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska MARK R. WARNER, Virginia PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon MARK KIRK, Illinois KAY HAGAN, North Carolina JERRY MORAN, Kansas JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia TOM COBURN, Oklahoma ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts DEAN HELLER, Nevada HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota CHARLES YI, Staff Director GREGG RICHARD, Republican Staff Director DAWN RATLIFF, Chief Clerk SHELVIN SIMMONS, IT Director JIM CROWELL, Editor SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey, Chairman JERRY MORAN, Kansas, Ranking Republican Member JACK REED, Rhode Island BOB CORKER, Tennessee CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania SHERROD BROWN, Ohio MARK KIRK, Illinois JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon TOM COBURN, Oklahoma JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia DEAN HELLER, Nevada ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota WILLIAM RUDER, Republican Subcommittee Staff Director JASON TUBER, Legislative Assistant (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:31 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 046629 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0486 Sfmt 0486 L:\HEARINGS 2014\07-30 ZDISTILL\91460.TXT JASON CONTENTS WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2014 Page Opening statement of Chairman Menendez .......................................................... 1 Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of: Senator Booker ................................................................................................. 2 Prepared statement ................................................................................... 32 Senator Schumer Prepared statement ................................................................................... 32 WITNESSES Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, De- partment of Homeland Security .......................................................................... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 33 Responses to written questions of: Senator Reed .............................................................................................. 44 Senator Schumer ....................................................................................... 47 Senator Warren ......................................................................................... 48 Donald Griffin, Vice President, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America ................................................................................................................. 23 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 38 Maryann Flanigan, Supervising Attorney, New Jersey Legal Services, Hurri- cane Sandy Legal Assistance Project ................................................................. 25 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 41 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:31 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 046629 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\HEARINGS 2014\07-30 ZDISTILL\91460.TXT JASON VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:31 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 046629 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\HEARINGS 2014\07-30 ZDISTILL\91460.TXT JASON THE FLOOD INSURANCE CLAIMS PROCESS IN COMMUNITIES AFTER SANDY: LESSONS LEARNED AND POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2014 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING, TRANSPORTATION, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met at 9:59 a.m., in room 538, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Sub- committee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN ROBERT MENENDEZ Chairman MENENDEZ. This hearing will come to order. We have two panels today to examine the National Flood Insur- ance Program’s claim process, particularly how it was administered in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. This is in response to the hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls I have received from desperate homeowners looking for help. And so let me thank our first panelist this morning when he gets here, FEMA Administrator Fugate, for being here to shed some light on what we must do to fix the process and make sure that it is a fair process with clear guidelines for homeowners in my State and around the country. Through their circumstances, and though their circumstances after Sandy may have varied, their stories follow a common thread. They did the responsible thing. They have faithfully paid for flood insurance for 10, 20, or even 30 years. They never had a claim until Sandy devastated their houses, only to find out it was not enough. They assumed, since they had insurance, that they would be made whole and have the resources necessary to rebuild. They sur- vived the wind and the rain and storm surge only to face another nightmare—a flood insurance claim process that threatened to take what the storm had not. One of my constituents, Doug Quinn, who is with us here today, who I had the pleasure of meeting on Monday, said that when he contacted my office he said, ‘‘I was in my home the night the flood waters rushed in. I waded out through waist-deep water at mid- night while electrical transformers exploded and houses burned down. That was the easy part. It is the year and a half since then that has been the tragedy.’’ (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 15:31 Feb 25, 2015 Jkt 046629 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 L:\HEARINGS 2014\07-30 ZDISTILL\91460.TXT JASON 2 Doug had maximum coverage of $250,000 and received estimates of up to $254,000 in damages, but he only received $90,000, a third of what he needed to rebuild. And Doug is not alone. The fact is the entire claims process, from the initial filing to the way claims are processed to the appeals process, is tilted against homeowners like Doug. Another constituent of mine, Steve Picciano, from Ortley Beach, appealed his settlement to FEMA, but after repeatedly inquiring about its status FEMA finally acknowledged it sent a response to the wrong address. A couple from Keansburg was only able to recover $21,000 even after a public adjuster confirmed there was more than 4 times that amount, or $87,000, in damage. When the couple tried to challenge the settlement, they were repeatedly told their case was closed. Underpayments and overly complex requirements; the runaround from FEMA on the appeals process; arbitrary, inflexible deadlines; overuse of highly technical exemptions—all highlight a program that in my view clearly needs improvement. While FEMA, of course, needs to prevent taxpayers and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse, it is also necessary to protect policy- holders and ensure that they are treated fairly. The question is how we strike the proper balance between protecting taxpayers against overpayments while not systemically shortchanging hard- working families who played by the rules. I think we should agree—and I would hope Administrator Fugate would agree—that the process needs to be made fair. Homeowners want to know what common-sense reforms FEMA can make to stop focusing disproportionately on overpayment while neglecting to pro- tect qualified homeowners from being low-balled and unable to re- build. We need answers, and I hope this hearing will help us get there. I hope our witnesses will address the issue of homeowners in New Jersey, and I am sure elsewhere, who have had to threaten litiga- tion just to get their insurance company to make them whole in time of disaster after they have paid their premiums and played by the rules. Affordable, accessible and robust flood insurance is critical to the prosperity and economic future of my State and every State that suffers the effects of a storm like Sandy. The stakes are simply too high to get it wrong, and I look forward to hearing from the Admin- istrator and from our second panel on how we can absolutely be certain we get it right. I understand Senator Booker has joined us and would like to make a statement. I have already asked our colleague from Louisiana; at this point, he does not want to make a statement. So that is why I have turned to you. STATEMENT OF SENATOR CORY A. BOOKER Senator BOOKER. Well, I want to first and foremost thank the Chairman, who is also my senior Senator. He has been—since the
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