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Speaker 1: Insurance companies, like all other businesses, are in the business

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to make money, and with it, the likelihood of them

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losing money exceeds the likelihood of them making money.

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Speaker 2: They choose generally to stop doing business.

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Speaker 1: And that's I think what we're saying in Florida, with

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the increased number of hurricanes and the devastation caused by

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the hurricanes.

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Speaker 3: You're listening to Carrie Letz's Financial Survival Network where you

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get valuable information you just can't find anywhere else to

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thrive in today's trying times. You need the Financial Survival

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Network now more than ever. Go to Financial Survivalnetwork dot

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com and get your free newsletter and gift. Financial Survival

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Network now more than.

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Speaker 2: Ever, and welcome you are listening to and watching the

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Financial Survival Network. I'm your host, Carrie Lutz. Well in Florida,

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here north southeast, we have had quite a mess too

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straight hurricanes hit. Hurricane Milton the latest, just down the

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block from a nine miles uh. The tornado hit and

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ripped up like a relatively new neighborhood. It's amazing. It

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did a lot of damage, but the houses were still

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standing afterwards, which I guess says something about our building code,

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or maybe it wasn't that bad a hurricane. But the

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question is when you have these mass disasters, how do

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you recover small business, large business, medium size? What do

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the steps you need to take put in place before

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it happens so that you can recover. Baragamen is with

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us now, and Braggo, it's great to have you on

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the show, So tell us here you're an attorney business expert.

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First disaster recovery. It's all about the planning, isn't it

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one hundred percent? And the best time to plan is

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before disaster happens. Now, I know that's convenient to say.

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Speaker 1: Once disaster happens, well, it would have been nice to

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have a plan, but of course these kinds of things, unfortunately,

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will occur more frequently. So having the plan of exactly

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what you need to do, having your insurance in place

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to make sure you can get along with your recovery

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is so critical before a disaster happens and after a

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disaster happens. It's also a good opportunity to be able

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to plan for the future of how you prevent something

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unfortunately like this from happening to you or your business,

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and if it does, how do you recover from.

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Speaker 2: It all right. So, like I assume you've gone through

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this before, what have you done? Have you worked on it? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: So when it comes to business owners, for example, a

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good way to make sure you're out ahead of it

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is just making sure you've got proper insurance. For example,

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a lot of business owners will have something known as

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commercial general liability insurance that'll protect them from things such

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as slip and falls up their property, general kind of

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things such as potentially an employee driving a vehicle and

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getting into into a crash, things like that. But they

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also want to look at business interruption insurance, which is

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insurance that covers you and your business in the event

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of something catastrophic happening that interrupts it and prevents it

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from being able to generate revenue. A great example of

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this is a hurricane. So if a hurricane comes and

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destroys your business and you're unable to earn revenue for

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a while, business interruption insurance is something that can cover

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you in addition to that, and by the way, that's

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a separate coverage. So these are the types of things

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that I encourage all business owners to talk to their

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insurance brokers about. Is what kind of coverages are available

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to me and my business in the event of something

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like this happening. There's also special writers for things such

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as flooding. Now, a lot of places, such as Florida,

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will exclude flooding from general kind of disaster relief insurance.

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So it's a special rider or endorsement, meaning it's something

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extra you have to pay for their additional premiums sport,

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and if you don't have it, the insurance company is

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going to exclude any and all damage that's caused by it,

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and maybe unsurprisingly, the insurance company is going to probably

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claim that a lot of the damage was caused by

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the flooding as opposed to the winds from the hurricane

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or something else. So insurance companies out of nac for

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finding ways to say, look, this was a part of

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the coverage you didn't have, so of course you want

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to be sure you're prepared for it ahead of something

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like this happening.

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Speaker 2: Right, So recently state of Florida passed a rule that

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if you have citizens insurance, you must get a flood

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insurance policy, which just seemed to me to be pretty outrageous.

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Whether you're in a floodplane or not and you know

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they are just looking out for my benefit. Why would

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they do something like that.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's interesting the way you have to rebibertary. The

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way insurance works is it's pooled ru er risk. So

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you have to have a certain number of people who

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really aren't within a risk period or place to be

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able to support the ones that are in a higher

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risk place.

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Speaker 2: The idea is is.

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Speaker 1: That with everybody pooling their resources, it makes it bitter

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for everybody because statistically, not everybody is going to be

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adversely affected by something like this, and so it brings

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down the premiums for people who are more likely to

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be affected by something like this. And the idea of

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if there's too few people paying into the policy or

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to the insurance company, it really does increase the risk

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for everybody because it increases the risk of a potential

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default by the insurance company because they don't have enough

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premiums collected to be able to ensure the risk. So

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states like Florida and other places adding in these requirements

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or to help ensure the liquidity and viability of the

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insurance company to help ensure that everybody can be potentially protected.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So in Florida having what they call an insurance crisis,

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and you know, basically insurance companies have stopped writing policies

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in Florida. What's this coming from? How did we wind

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up in this situation?

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Speaker 1: So insurance companies, like all other businesses, are in the

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business to make money. With the likelihood of them losing

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money exceeds the likelihood of them making money, they choose

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generally to stop doing business. And that's I think what

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we're saying in Florida with the increased number of hurricanes

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and the devastation caused by the hurricanes, not just in frequency,

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meaning that the number of hurricanes Florida is seeing every year,

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but also the significant severity of these hurricanes and how

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much damage they're causing. So ultimately, going back to what

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we were talking about earlier, the problem becomes, these insurance

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companies are paying out far more than they're paying or

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receiving in premiums is their projection, and so based on that,

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they're saying, look, it really doesn't make sense for us

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to continue insuring in Florida because we're going to lose money.

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And I think that's what we're saying now.

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Speaker 2: Well, they were claiming that there's a lot of fraud

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going on with new roofs, things like that. I mean,

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how much does fraud really impact insurance companies bottom lines?

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Speaker 1: I have no doubt that there's some aspect of fraud

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when it comes to these things, But in terms of

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the overall macro perspective, the overall bleak picture perspective, I

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don't really foresee a majority of the claims al anywhere

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close to majority of the claims beying fraudulent claims. A

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lot of insurance companies like to talk about fraud on

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the insurance company, but they don't really talk about the

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reverse when the insurance company is denying legitimate claims to

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individuals and business owners even though they should be covered.

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And recently, Governor Desantez signed a law that prevents homeowners

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from being able to recover their attorney's fees when they

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have to sue their insurance companies when an insurance company

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doesn't pay out when they're supposed to. So said differently

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and explain differently. Previously, the law allowed homeowners whose claims

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were wrongfully denied to sue the insurance company and to

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recover not only the money that should have been paid

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to them for example, if a roof needed to be

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replaced and the insurance company improperly denied it and claimed

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it was fraudulent, then the homeowner can sue not only

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to get the roof replaced, but also to cover their

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attorney's fees for the roof replacement, because obviously the attorneys

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aren't doing the work for free, and it really is

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cost prohibitive a lot of times for homeowners to pay

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for the attorney out of pocket. And of course an

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individual homeowner is going to be at a significant disadvantage

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to a multi billion dollar insurance company. So the law

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was intended to designed to help homeowners and try to

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even the playing field. Unfortunately, now with these changes, insurance

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companies can deny it and if the homeowner sues and wins,

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sure they can get the money to replace the roof,

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But then now they have to pay for the attorney

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s fpees out of pocket. So if you imagine if

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a roof replacement is going to cost fifty thousand dollars

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and the attorney spees cost twenty thousand dollars, well, now

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the home only has thirty thousand dollars to replace their roof,

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and you can't get it done for that now. So

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the issue becomes that the increasing number of denials of

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claims I think will create additional problems for homeowners who

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already have the odds stacked against them when they're facing

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large insurance companies.

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Speaker 2: Interesting. Interesting, It's kind of hard to feel bad for

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insurance company copanies, though, isn't it. I agree.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we all of us, we dutifully pay in

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our premiums to insurance companies with the hope and expectation

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that they'll do the right thing when it comes time

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for them to actually pay out. Of course, the insurance

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company is betting that they won't have to pay out,

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or that the number of premiums that they're going to

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collect from the number of people they're going to collect

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them from are going to exceed what they end up

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paying out. But the issue becomes when the insurance company

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puts their thumb on the scale and says, well, look, bet,

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we took the bet that we won't have to pay out,

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and we lost at bet. But now we're going to

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just deny the claim or make homeowners go through additional

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hoops or business owners go through additional hoops. They and

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then ultimately deny the claim. When they know that the

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claim really properly should have been paid out. A lot

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of times, unfortunately, these can become wars of attrition, meaning

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insurance companies just simply waiting things out for either the

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homeowner or the business owner to give up because they

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have so much going on. There's all this devastation in

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their own lives, and then they've got to deal with

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a multi billion dollar insurance company and their council.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, certain states regulate their insurance companies more strictly

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than others. Florida is kind of it's like a less

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a fair state, you know.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and I'm all for capitalism, but I'm all for

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capitalism done in the right way. Capitalism done in the

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right way creates value for everybody. It creates a benefit

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for everybody. So there is an issue of potential government overreach.

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But there's also the dark side of capitalism when companies

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are taking advantage of their position and power to abuse

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the everyday person or business owner.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's a balance here somewhere. But like New

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York goes much more strict that their insurance companies, and

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it seems like the insurance companies in New York State

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are much more solvent than the insurance companies here in Florida.

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Speaker 1: And part of this could be in terms of the regulations.

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The flip side of regulations are that they can add time,

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burden and expense, but they can also set companies up

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to be more proactive about the way they approach things

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because those companies have to be more cognizant of those

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rules and regulations, including rules and regulations relating to their

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liquidity and how they're handling claims and how quickly they're

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handling claims, as well as how much potential profit they're

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allowed to earn from compared to what they're collecting in

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premiums versus what they're paying out and claims, and those

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kinds of additional regulations can be very beneficial to both

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homeowners and business owners.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Well, it doesn't feel like it at the time.

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So we better off with a regulatory free for all here,

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or are we better off with a more regulated marketplace

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where where insurance companies are held more accountable.

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Speaker 1: Well, when it comes to insurance companies, I think the

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more critical the infrastructure or the company that's involved in

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the day to day American life, I think additional regulation

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is helpful in those circumstances, because when you imagine insurance companies, homeowners,

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businesses around the country rely on insurance. We have so

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many different types of insurance. We have health insurance, we

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have car insurance, we have homeowners insurance, we have business

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interruption insurance, we have commercial general liability insurance. And these

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companies have tremendous sums of capital, they have a tremendous

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amount of power, and they pay a lot of lobbyists

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in Washington and locally to help protect their interests.

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Speaker 2: And you do see the.

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Speaker 1: Results of that with increasing legislation helping insurance companies many

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times unfortunately at the expense of homeowners and business owners.

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So in my opinion, that's cop capitalism gone wrong, where

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it's almost like a reverse regulation where we're insurance companies

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are having laws passed that are to their benefit and

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to the detriment of the everyday American citizen.

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Speaker 2: All right, well, interesting situation here that we find ourselves

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in currently, and your best bet is to plan ahead

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buying the more solvent and responsive insurance companies. You know,

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like certain companies like Chubb and AIG who have used

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in the past, you never get any problems with them.

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As all as it's a legitimate claim, they pay it,

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you know, rapidly, and others not so good. Right, Yeah,

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that's right.

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Speaker 1: And a big part of this CARRY is anybody making

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an insurance claim, it would be highly beneficial for them

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to make sure they document the claim properly, including with photos, videos,

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making sure they've got written communications with the insurance companies

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because the downside of phone calls is while you might

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be able to get somebody on the line, a live person,

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eventually all of the recordings, all of that data about

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what was discussed is with the insurance company. Now contrast

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that to sending an email. Making sure that you get

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an email or even sending a fax. You've got written

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documentation that shows what you sent and when, and making

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sure that you've got that is so critical to show

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if there is an improper delay by the insurance company

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that one you sent that information and two if there

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are additional problems or damages caused by the insurance company

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and processing your claim, that you can make those claims later.

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Because having litigated these kinds of cases, I can tell

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you carry when it comes to an insurance company saying, look,

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it really wasn't our fault. That's a very common defense,

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and the best counter to that is saying, look, here's

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the clear timeline. Here's when we sent the initial documentation

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to you showing what all the damages were, and we

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asked you, if there's any additional information, please let us know.

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We're happy to send it over to you. And then

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sending the photos in the video and any other documentation

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such as receipts that you have is very very helpful.

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And in that regard, making sure that you've got electronic

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backed up copies of your photos, videos, and receipts is

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very very helpful because a lot of times, unfortunately, when

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you've got something like a hurricane and a lot of flooding,

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you could have ommaculate receipts and drawers and drawers full

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of paperwork that's very easy to access. But if it

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gets washed away or it gets flooded and the documents

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are water damaged, it's going to be very difficult for

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you to be able to use that information later. So

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I recommend that everybody who's listening to this start that

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documentation process now, keep it organized, and keep it back up.

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Things as simple as photos, videos of the things that

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you have in your possession, including model numbers or serial numbers.

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Speaker 2: Is very very helpful.

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Speaker 1: Even the condition of the rooms or the condition of

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the property in both photos and videos is very helpful

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when it comes to a claim later.

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Speaker 2: All right, well, I like you saying the preparation in anything,

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being prepared is always the key. Even if your plan

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doesn't work, at least you had a plan so you

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can change. But if you don't have a plan, then

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the things can go south very quickly. People want to

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find out more about you, connect with you on the web.

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How do you do that?

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Speaker 1: Yes, so they can visit my website at www dot

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LAWPLA dot com. Www dot lawpla dot com. They can

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follow on Instagram at parrogpa r A g am A,

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m I n E SQ, or they could check out

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my YouTube channel where we provide a lot of great

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tips and tricks for individuals and business owners that can

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help them with their business. All of the legal things

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that a lot of times business owners simply don't know

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and they wish that somebody had provided that information to

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them ahead of time. I wanted to make sure that

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everybody has access to that, so we created a website

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and a YouTube channel where we have that information available.

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If they google my name or lawpla dot com, they'll

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be able to find it there.

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Speaker 2: All right, excellent, Well you've got a question for Paragh

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or myself, shoot me an email at kl at Kerrie

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Letz dot com. Link to parog site is in the

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show notes to this interview on Financial Survival Network dot com.

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And while you're there, sign up for your free newsletter PROG.

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Thanks for filling us in helping us out. Hopefully all

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of you out there, I'll find some value in this.

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Always be prepared because disasters happen even in places where

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you never expect them to happen, like in the mountains,

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the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina,

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as we've seen over the past few weeks. Appreciate you

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coming on for I can talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 1: My pleasure, Garrett, thank you, thanks for listening to carry

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Letz's Financial Survival Network, your solution to today's trying times.

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Speaker 3: For the latest, go to Financial Survivalnetwork dot com. Financial

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Survival Network

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Speaker 2: Now more than ever