Talk about bad luck. A Staten Island resident whose home was completely destroyed in Hurricane Sandy says that his Target account was part of the recent security breach that exposed about 40 million bank accounts to fraudulent activity. For him, this double whammy of bad luck involves the inability to get reimbursed for Hurricane Sandy damages and having money stolen out of his bank account.
Waiting for Insurance Assistance
According to silive.com, Staten Island resident Emilio Langilotti’s home near Crescent Beach in Great Kills was completely destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. In fact, during the storm, he had to wait on his roof for more than five hours before he could even attempt to swim to a neighbor’s house to safety and broke his wrist in the process. He says that his 2012 Christmas was beyond dismal.
After waiting months to receive any government assistance or insurance proceeds, his life started to return to normal. He has been working 10 hours a day for the past year to save money and try to build a better life for himself. Then he discovered that all of his savings had been stolen.
Langilotti says that he had gone to Target on November 25th and made some minor purchases. A few days later, he received a phone call from Amazon.com asking him if he would authorize $1,800 worth of purchases. He told them no and, thinking that was that, simply continued to work to save up for Christmas. When he went to check his bank account to see how much he could spend, he saw that it was all gone.
Although Target says that its security breach only affected customers who made purchases from November 27th to December 15th, Langilotti says there simply isn’t any other explanation. Amazon didn’t have an excuse for why its transaction went through after Langilotti denied authorization and is requiring him to submit a dispute form.
Homeowners Should Be Celebrating the Holidays This Year
Although Langilotti’s situation involves fraudulent activity on a whole different level that simply could not have been predicted, the majority of homeowners whose homes were damaged or destroyed in Hurricane Sandy last year should be celebrating the holidays this year. It’s been over a full year since Superstorm Sandy hit, and insurance companies have had more than enough time to settle homeowners’ insurance claims – regardless of whatever complications or disputes needed to be addressed over the past 14 months. Those who haven’t are likely engaging in bad faith insurance practices and can – and should – be taken to task for their actions.
If your insurance company has offered you a lowball settlement, denied your legitimate homeowners’ insurance claim for water, wind, roof or interior damage, miscalculated your insurance deductible or unreasonably delayed your claim, you may be able to take legal action against them.