Homeowners start remediation, seek answers about insurance coverage

Residents hit by Hurricane Helene are working to stop further damage and start to recover. And as they do that, there are a lot of questions about the complicated insurance process. Eight on your side, Consumer Investigator Shannon Bacon joins us now with great information, Shannon. Stacy, Josh, I spent the day speaking to many homeowners who have already started this process, and I can tell you that they are very anxious about what's next. Sherry Dude and her husband have cut wet drywall to prevent mold and pulled out damaged flooring after storm surge pushed at least five inches of water inside their West Shore home. They're working and waiting on an adjuster from their flood insurance company. I filed my insurance claim on my bed at three in the morning with water all around me. Like many, Sherry questions what the maximum coverage will be and how much will be out of pocket. For most policies, the standard is $250,000. Sherry's deductible is $10,000, but contents were not covered. While she waits, she's piled up her ruined belongings high at the curb. All curled up now where, you know, it's just particle board. And you've got lots of pictures of this because your insurance company is going to want to see all of that at every stage. Got lots of pictures. Sherry has never filed a flood insurance claim before and is anxious. I'm concerned about getting low balled and having to, you know, fight for things. And, you know, when you've already been doing all this, you just want it to be easy. You know, you just want them to do the right thing and help you. Coming up at five, I'm taking a deeper look at free help that the state of Florida is offering to help you navigate that very complicated insurance claim. Stacey, Josh. And partially the reason it's so complicated, too, is you have flood insurance. You have homeowner's insurance. There are different kinds. So in the event, because this was a flooding event, do you call your homeowner's insurance company, Shannon, just in case? Well, in most cases, your traditional homeowner's insurance policy is not going to help you here because this was a flood event. And that's why it's so important to have flood insurance. But I will tell you, I've been speaking to some people who tell me that they have used their property insurance for some aspects of this, such as a pool that's damaged. Your flood insurance policy will not cover that. For that, you need traditional homeowner's insurance, Stacey. Boy, we're all learning a lot about this all at once. All right. Thank you, Shannon.