New York’s Build It Back Program, a special federal aid program, was created to help New Yorkers whose homes were destroyed in Hurricane Sandy rebuild.
However, nine months after it was introduced in June of 2013, only 100 of the nearly 20,000 people who signed up for the program have signed a deal and construction hasn’t yet begun on a single home.
More Empty Promises?
According to the New York Daily News, the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding (a consumer advocacy group) analyzed program data and reported that it’s not functioning. Of the 19,920 people who applied for the program, none have seen construction work start and only 110 had signed a deal on aid as of January 2014.
Nathalie Alegre, the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding Coordinator, said that these funds are extremely important to homeowners, especially those who are considered low-income and are supposed to receive priority.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office says that the city has held meetings and made offers to nearly 1,800 homeowners who are still considering their options. However, he explained that the city only has federal cash for about 4,500 homeowners who are classified as “top priority” due to income and the amount of Sandy damage they suffered.
Homeowners Should Not Have To Wait Any Longer
Homeowners who have not received their rightful insurance proceeds have been waiting for nearly 16 months. Should they have to wait any longer? The answer is – absolutely not.
Insurance companies who have yet to pay out on homeowners’ insurance policies due to Hurricane Sandy damage are likely engaging in bad faith insurance practices. Whether your insurance carrier has denied your legitimate claim, unreasonably delayed your claim or offered you less than what you are entitled to, rest assured that you do have a remedy.
The bottom line in most bad faith insurance instances revolves around the fact that big insurance companies don’t want to pay out any more than they have to and bet on the fact that most policyholders will feel intimidated.
You can do more. When an insurance company knows that you’re being represented by an experienced insurance dispute lawyer, your claim is more likely to be taken seriously. That’s because insurance companies know which law firms will take them to court to make them pay policyholders what they’re entitled to and hold them liable for bad faith insurance practices.
Contact a bad faith insurance lawyer today and get your claim paid once and for all. Hurricane Sandy victims are tired of the runaround from insurance companies and simply want to get what they’re legally entitled to so that they can get on with their lives. We can help you achieve that goal.