N.Y. Senators: Homeowners Need More Time to Sue Insurers After Sandy

BY ARTHUR D. POSTAL, PROPERTYCASUALTY360.COM

October 24, 2013

New York’s two senators are asking that the Federal Emergency Management Agency give homeowners in the state affected by Superstorm Sandy more time to file suits against their insurance carriers.

The senators, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, both Democrats, say in a letter written at the request of consumer advocates that few Sandy victims know there is a year deadline for them to file suit to challenge settlements proposed by their insurers.

Homeowners want more time "to hold accountable insurance companies for short-changing them," the senators say in a statement about the letter to FEMA. "Many families don’t even know they may need to take legal action, but may soon lose that right anyway." 

FEMA guidance provides that the one-year statute of limitations period to file suit runs from the date of the first written denial of a flood insurance claim.

"Not only is that interpretation not consistent with the governing statute and the terms of the Standard Flood Insurance Policy, but combined with relief granted by FEMA to Sandy victims extending the deadline for submitting proof of loss statements, could leave homeowners in a ‘catch-22’: Hurry up and file a lawsuit, which would require submitting a proof of loss and thus making FEMA’s proof of loss extension meaningless; or wait to submit a proof of loss and obtain a final determination and hope that the court overrules FEMA’s interpretation of the statute of limitations,” say the senators.

The letter said that FEMA has "reportedly maintained" that the extension of the proof of loss deadline did not affect the statute of limitations.

"But many thousands of homeowners received a first written response on their claim within one or two months following Superstorm Sandy," the letter said.

"That means that potentially thousands of households that submit a proof of loss within the extended deadline for Sandy claims – April 29, 2014 – will nonetheless be time-barred from any legal recourse when they dispute the insurer’s decision with respect to that proof of loss, because the decision will have occurred more than one year following" the claim.

If left unremedied, the statute of limitations period as interpreted by FEMA "will render the well-intentioned FEMA proof of loss extension meaningless," Schumer and Gillibrand claim.