I-TEAM: Homeowners left feeling uninsured months after Hurricane Helene
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Homeowners are still battling settlement offers from insurance companies five months after Hurricane Helene.
As time goes by, their property is at more risk for further damage from the elements.
Just take a drive through town and you will see billboards popping up on Washington Road.
Liz: “How long have you lived here?”
Ernie Corely: “43 years.”
Five kids, seven grands, two great grands and four generations are on Hutchinson Drive.
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Corely: “Just come on right around.”
Liz: “Dude, you move fast for an 80-year-old.”
Age hasn’t slowed Ernie Corely’s mind down either.
“The hole all the way to the fan. My son is with me temp and sleeping here and it knocked the sheetrock and broke the fan and everything next morning the floor was full of water. I bet I dipped out 20 buckets of water,” said Corely.
Prior to retirement, Corely worked in construction.
“That roof flipped back and about four feet all the way down,” he said.
His job helped pay off the family home.
“At our age, we don’t have money to go and pay for home or anything. It took us 30 years to pay for this here,” said Corely.
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He’s been loyal to the same insurance company for more than four decades.
“They’re saying I had to get some documents. I wasn’t thinking about any documents. The unit was paid for. What do I need documents for?” he said.
It doesn’t take a career in construction to calculate the damage and dollars don’t add up.
“They want to patch the roof. Why can’t they do the whole thing? That’s the new unit right there,” said Corely.
His insurance company sent A letter to the Corely’s five months after Hurricane Helene hit their home.
“They are talking about wear and tear. All roofs got wear and tear on it,” said Corely.
His shingles and air conditioning unit fall under “wear and tear” and “mechanical breakdown” coverage exemptions.
You don’t have to search far to find out Corely’s story isn’t unusual.
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Sometimes, you just have to go into your breakroom.
News 12′s Cliff Bennett from The Mix is in the same boat.
Liz: “Five months after the hurricane, just like Earnie, you are still fighting with your insurance company.”
Bennett: “Yeah, some things were taken care of and then we were told the fencing, which was down across my property, was not covered.”
Bennett’s insurance company cited an amendment in his policy that exempts fences damaged during wind events from coverage.
“They said it was put back into my policy in 2010. If I had known that 14 years ago, I would have raised a red flag. I’d be at another insurance company at this time because what a hurricane is, is a windstorm,” said Bennett.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ranked homeowners’ insurance as the number one complaint from customers like Corely and Benett last year.
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The top reason? Claim handling: delays and unsatisfactory settlement offer.
“My very first adjuster that came out offered me $148 for all of the damage. Not only was that silly, but it was also almost offensive,” said Bennett.
Corely’s settlement offer? Less than $5,000.
“So, you pay that extra even though it’s not required because you don’t have that mortgage anymore, right? And you are getting ripped off and you can’t get anything done,” said Corely.
The Small Business istration can help you get something done. SBA has extended its deadline for low-interest loans to homeowners a few more weeks.
There is no interest in the first year, which buys you time to appeal insurance claims while getting the cash you need to make repairs now.
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