Hurricane Sandy took the lives of 23 Staten Islanders and caused millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. While many continue to battle it out with their insurance companies, a Staten Island Court has created a system to expedite Hurricane Sandy litigation against insurers.
Unresolved & Underpaid Claims
Many Staten Islanders, who along with fellow borough residents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx suffered serious losses from Hurricane Sandy’s high winds and flood waters, find themselves battling it out with their homeowners’ insurance companies over unresolved or underpaid claims. Enter Justice Judith N. McMahon. According to SILive.com, the Staten Island administrative judge wants to expedite lawsuits against insurers and has created a system to do so.
The specialized Hurricane Sandy Part of the New York Supreme Court was the idea by Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti who believed a court focused on resolving disputes related to Hurricane Sandy would aid residents in counties affected by the storm.
Justice McMahon said that many insurance claims remain unresolved and predicted many of those would lead to litigation by residents dissatisfied with their recovery checks.
“The court is very sensitive to the seriousness of the issues involved and what everyone has gone through to get to this point,” Justice McMahon told the Staten Island Advance newspaper.
O’Keefe’s Experience Similar to Thousands of Others
There are thousands of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans who have unresolved claims and have not been treated fairly or in good faith. Insurance companies are notorious for disputing settlement amounts, improperly calculating deductibles, undervaluing claims, proposing unfair settlements, denying claims and engaging in bad faith insurance practices instead of paying homeowners what is rightfully theirs.
Contact Belluck & Fox and let one of our experienced New York insurance dispute attorneys analyze your situation, get your claim settled and determine whether you might be entitled to other compensation for bad faith insurance practices.