Daily Archives: January 22, 2013

4 ways we treat our homes like family | South Salem NY Real Estate

 

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If you know me (even on Facebook), then you know much about the antics of my little pug mix “children,” Aiko and Sumiko. Though I try to manage myself and post only one out of every 100 pics I take of them, what does make it to my social media channels tends to be the top 1 percent of their funniest, most humanlike follies, like Aiko’s meditation poses and Sumiko’s disdain for me taking pictures of Aiko’s meditation poses.

In fact, I felt validated when, last time I posted a pic, a friend mentioned how humanlike one of my dog’s facial expressions was. Can you say “preaching to the choir”?

This (mostly) harmless habit we have of attributing human qualities to animals is something word buffs and Jeopardy fans know is called “anthropomorphism.” And the reality is that we do this with loads of other nonhuman things and even inanimate objects, including our homes.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that homeowners who treat their homes almost like they’re human are some of the best homeowners around. Here are a just a few of the ways I’ve seen that great homeowners anthropomorphize their homes:

1. We name them. Some homeowners or builders actually name their homes human names, in the same way B.B. King named his legendary guitar “Lucille.” It’s quite common for homes to be assigned the family’s actual surname, creating even closer ties between the family’s identity and the home that serves as the site for their precious moments over the years, decades or even generations. Think: Spelling Manor or many of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous designs.

Other homes are given names quite literally descriptive of the property itself or its surroundings, like the infamous Grey Gardens mansion in the Hamptons (where the true story depicted in the popular HBO film took place), Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago or Le Beau Château, the 22-room Connecticut manor that was owned but never even visited, much less occupied, by reclusive billionairess Huguette Clark in the five decades she owned the property before she passed away.

(Le Beau Château can be yours, by the by, for just a smidge under $16 million.)

And it’s not only the wealthy and famous who name their homes. In my family, we tend to reference our homes in conversation by their street names, and I have friends and clients that name their homes from a variety of angles, calling their places “The Barn,” “The Country House,” “Casa de (family surname)” and even “The Ponderosa.”

2. We listen to them. In a healthy human relationship, we listen to the folks we care about, sometimes intently, to keep things functional and address issues before they spiral beyond repair. Same goes with a health-conscious homeowner and his relationship with his property: We listen for creaks, groans, drips, squeaks, moans, squeals and all manner of other ways our homes speak to us, “vocalizing” what’s happening in their inner works and often dropping clues to needed repairs and upgrades long before things actually stop working.

3. We expect them to behave age-appropriately — and worry when they don’t. We expect children to beg for checkout-counter candy, teens to wear weird things and borrow our cars, adults to be self-sufficient, and our elderly relations to have the occasional health issue.

And along the human life cycle, we expect people to outgrow things, wear things out and even need different sorts of equipment at various phases. In fact, the need for a first work wardrobe, a first home, a first pair of reading glasses or even, later, a first set of hearing aids is something we see as a signal that the people in our lives are entering new stages of life and facing the new challenges each stage brings.

We look at our homes the same way. New homeowners expect to have little or no repair issues for years, while some people buying and living in older homes actually go so far as to track the age and health of various systems in the home, from the foundation to the furnace, and use that information to create a maintenance and replacement calendar for the entire property.

This expectation that homes will act age-appropriately also leads to outrage when they don’t — and is a huge part of the reason it behooves homebuyers to obtain inspections, so the inspector can brief them on how old everything in the house is, how functional things are (or not), and what, if anything, will need to be done to maintain functional systems in the short and long term.

4. We feed them. Anyone who says homes don’t require feeding has simply never been responsible for one. We feed our homes with water, gas, electricity and the cold hard cash that pays the mortgage and property taxes on a monthly basis. Add to that the intensive ongoing care that we invest into our homes, from routine cleaning to major design and remodeling initiatives, and it’s no wonder that many of us actually “feed” our homes more and better than we feed our human families!

Question: Do you treat your home as a person? How?

 

                                                   

 

Seven essential factors of homeowner’s insurance | Waccabuc Real Estate

You’ve put a lot of work into your home to make it your haven from the stresses of life. But things can happen quickly to upset that peace, such as a fire, theft, or natural disaster.

With that in mind, do you have enough home insurance to protect your home and your precious personal belongings if something bad happens?

You’d be surprised at how many people don’t have enough, says David Isaac, senior product manager at Met-Life, a provider of all types of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs.

“I work in insurance, but I have neighbors and relatives who just don’t know what they need to protect themselves. Many times, they end up being surprised that they weren’t covered after a certain incident even though they have insurance,” he says. “It just wasn’t enough, or they didn’t have the right kind.”

To protect your home and family, keep reading to learn about seven factors to consider when determining how much home insurance is enough.

Factor #1: The cost to rebuild your home

When the unexpected – such as a fire or tornado – comes rolling through your home, you want to build it back the way it was before disaster struck, and that’s where your home insurance comes in.

However, 16 percent of homeowners do not have enough insurance to rebuild their home if it were destroyed, according to the 11th annual “US National Homeowners Insurance Study” by market research company, J.D. Power and Associates.

But how can you make sure your house is restored to normalcy?

The Insurance Information Institute (III) recommends you ensure your home insurance covers the price to reconstruct at today’s construction costs – not what you paid for the home originally.

“For a quick estimate of the amount of insurance you need, multiply the total square footage of your home by local building costs per square foot,”  III says. You can get this information from your local real estate agent, builders association, or insurance agent.

It’s also a good idea to talk with your home insurance agent about automatic inflation coverage, which updates premiums and coverage annually to reflect the cost of inflation.

“This coverage’s main purpose is to help customers avoid inadequate insurance coverage,” Isaac says.

But beware – not all insurance companies have this in place. You need to sit down with your insurance agent to see if you do have automatic inflation coverage. That way, you can be sure that you’ll be able to rebuild your $500,000 home for what it’s worth now – instead of for the $200,000 that you purchased it for 20 years ago.

[Think a home insurance update is in order? Click to compare quotes now.]

Factor #2: The cost to replace your personal belongings

Another factor to consider is what your home insurance will cover for the items inside your home if they’re stolen. So if a burglar breaks into your home and takes your television, how much will your insurance company pay you for another?

This can be a tricky question, says Isaac. It depends on what type of television you had, and whether or not your insurance covers replacement cost or the cash value of the item.

With an insurance policy that covers replacement cost, you could receive the latest flat-screen television – even if the set that was stolen was 10 years old. That’s because the policy refers to the original price of the item, regardless of how old or outdated it might be. But with an insurance policy that only covers cash value, you would get only what the television is valued at today. And because of inflation and the advances in home electronics, a television you bought for $2,000 two years ago is likely worth a lot less now.

So, if you’re trying to get the cheapest home insurance policy possible, a policy that covers cash value is a better option – since a policy that covers replacement cost comes with a higher premium, Isaac notes. “But at a time of loss, you will feel in a much better position to replace most of your stuff if you had the more expensive policy that includes replacement of personal property,” he says.

[Is your home well protected? Click to get an updated home insurance quote now.]

Factor #3: The cost to cover your valuables

So your insurance company will cover your personal belongings, but what about more unique – and expensive – items? Let’s say a diamond ring has been passed down to you from your late mother, for example. It’s worth at least $10,000. You cannot find it anywhere. Will your home insurance replace it?

Unless you added what’s called a rider or endorsement policy to your standard insurance, don’t bet on it.

That’s because every standard insurance policy has limits on the coverage for expensive items. For example, jewelry is usually only covered up to $1,000 to $2,000 within a standard home insurance policy, according to III.

But don’t worry – that doesn’t mean your valuable items will have to be left uninsured. For items that are worth more than the amount that your standard policy would cover, there are riders that you can add to your homeowner’s insurance that provide additional coverage beyond the regular policy.

And the rider can be written out for items like jewelry, artwork, watercraft, gun collections, and other valuables that are not covered normally, says Isaac. These items are typically appraised and in the event of a loss, the insurance company will pay you the appraised amount.

[Need some extra coverage for your valuables? Click to compare home insurance quotes now.]

Factor #4: The cost of damage from floods and earthquakes

Floods and earthquakes can be devastating catastrophes that destroy property. But these natural disasters are not covered under a standard home insurance policy, so you need to buy special flood or earthquake insurance for protection.

And not having flood or earthquake insurance can be a risky gamble for certain folks, Isaac says.

“You need to analyze where you live and what is around you,” he adds. “Floods can occur anytime, anywhere with flash floods from heavy rains or dikes breaking.”

Take Hurricane Irene, which came ripping up the East Coast in 2011 and flooded homes, for example. During that year, fewer than one out of 10 homeowners carried flood insurance in New England and the mid-Atlantic states, according to the J.D. Power’s annual insurance survey.

Just like floods, earthquakes can cause devastating damage as well, especially if you live in a state like California, which is notorious for earthquakes.  

So, if you live in a region that is prone to natural disasters, talk to your insurer about what your coverage options are.

[Think you may need some extra coverage? Click to find the right home insurance now.]

Factor #5: The cost to live after a disaster

Here’s another thing to think about: If disaster strikes, whether it’s a natural disaster, a fire, or something else, where will you live and how will you stay afloat financially if your home is destroyed?

You might end up in a hotel or have to rent an apartment, but you’ll still have to make mortgage payments even during the rebuilding period. So where does the money come from for essential living expenses like meals, clothing, cell phones, and other crucial items after you have lost everything?

“Most home insurance policies allow a small amount to help out people with their increased cost of living while they aren’t in their home,” Isaac says. “But they won’t cover you forever.”

In fact, most standard home insurance policies will cover up to 20 percent of the policy on the house, he adds. And in many situations, you can increase the temporary living expenses for a small addition to your premium.

But ultimately, every policy is different, so you really need to talk with your insurance agent about how much coverage you need. Discuss a lot of “what ifs” and understand what will be protected in those situations.

[Click to compare home insurance quotes now.]

Factor #6: The cost if someone sues you

Your sweet little great aunt falls on your stairs and breaks a hip and an ankle. Two weeks later, a lawsuit is delivered to you by her attorney.

You might not believe it, but this kind of scenario happens all the time, says Isaac.

“Accidents happen. Unfortunately, those who are injured can be your neighbors or friends at one point. If something tragic occurs, you need to have enough liability insurance,” he says.

To protect yourself, you might want to consider taking out an umbrella policy or a personal excess liability insurance policy – both of which can often be bought separately from your home insurance. This type of policy can give you $1 million or even more coverage to help pay for judgments against you by a judge or jury in the lawsuit, says Isaac. It saves you from paying out of pocket or having to sell your home or belongings to pay the settlement.

The III states that most home insurance policies provide a minimum of $100,000 worth of liability insurance, but recommends that homeowners have a least $300,000 to $500,000 worth of protection.

8 Ways to Brand Yourself on YouTube | Katonah Realtor

How do you develop a brand on YouTube?  It definitely takes more than just an awesome logo.  Why is branding important?  You want to give people something familiar and recognizable in which to attach your content so that viewers will likely want to check out all of your other videos and ones you upload in the future.  It makes you easier to find, and trust.  Our own Tim Schmoyer went over to the VidiSEO channel to discuss 8 ways to brand your channel.  The tips he gives are excellent, so you should pay attention if branding is something you’re curious about.

8 Steps to Branding Your Channel on YouTube

Let’s give the floor to Mark Ballek of VidiSEO and Tim Schmoyer:

OK, so let’s review what we’ve learned from this video:

1. Upload A Quality Avatar

Almost everything you do on YouTube will be accompanied by this avatar.  If you subscribe to channels and the kind of person who likes to see all of that channel’s activity, you’ll see that avatar when they like, favorite, share, subscribe, comment…you know, everything.  So you want to pick one that not only looks awesome and would compel people to click on it, but something that looks good even when it’s really small, which is likely when it comes to your activity on YouTube.

2. Watermark Your Videos

This is your logo, usually found in the corner of the screen, and as Tim suggests, “at 60% opacity.”  That way it will be an ever-present reinforcement of your brand on the video, while not being in the way of your content.

3. Mention Your Channel Name

In the first 15 seconds, be sure to find a way to mention your channel name.  “Hello, welcome to [insert channel name here]” is going to be a common one.  It’s a verbal reinforcement of your brand and helps people remember it and associate your content with it.

4. Brand Your Channel Page

Over on the sidebar of your channel page, you should have all of your social media links.  The page should have your logo in the background image somewhere.  Also, take the time to give a succinct description so that people can tell who you are and what you’re about, and not so long that it would be cut off and they would have to click to see more.

5. Add A Brand Tag to Videos

When you upload a video, you’ll be putting tags that describe the contents so that they can be found in search.  But you also want to put a “brand” tag at the end.  While tags at the end of a series of tags are not given as much weight, what they will do is give YouTube a frame of reference so that your videos show up in the “Related Videos” section while people watch your content, and not some other channels’.

6. Branded Intro Bumper

Place a video bumper no longer than 5 seconds at the beginning of the video somewhere, either right at the beginning or right after your intro.  This is more visual reinforcement of your brand and you can make these look pretty cool with simple graphics and sound.  But don’t make them too long or people will start leaving your videos en masse.

7. Branded End Slate

At the end of most popular channels’ videos you will see a whole bunch of links and previews of other videos that people can click and watch.  Throw your logo in the background somewhere, and now you’re associating this content with other content people might enjoy, all the while reminding them, “Hey, this channel, this brand, is awesome.  Watch more.”

8. Turn Off Channel Ads

It might seem counter-intuitive but this would be for your channel page only.  Taking ads off of that ensures that when people visit your channel page that they are seeing just you and only you, and not a whole bunch of unrelated images that might confuse them.

We’d like to thank Mark Ballek and Tim Schmoyer for breaking down how to brand your channel.  These are all fairly simple to do, so if you want to brand your channel, follow these easy steps.

Westchester NY MLS Reports Price Decreases Since 2011 | Bedford Realtor

Westchester NY MLS Reports Price Decreases Since 2011 |  Bedford Realtor‘For the year as a whole, every county reported price decreases since 2011.

The median sale price of a Westchester single family house was $587,000, 2% lower than in 2011.
The comparable price in Purtnam was $300,000 or 8% below 2011.

On the west side of the Hudson, Rockland’s single family house median was $380,000, a 3% decrease.

And Oranage posted a $240,000 median, down 4%.

Only in the fourth quarter were some increases reported:  Westchester’s fourth quarter median was $547,000, an increase of 4% over 2011; and Rockland also posted a 4% increase, to $363,000.’

Facebook Graph Search: Why This Could Be So Important for the Future | Katonah Realtor

Last week Facebook launched Graph Search.  This is an attempt to turn Facebook into Google – i.e. make it a place where people go to ask questions, but with the supposedly added bonus that the information you receive is endorsed by people you know rather than people you don’t.

This is a very important step, not just for Facebook, because it could come to be understood as one of the critical opening skirmishes in the Battle of Big Data.  How it plays-out could have enormous implications for the commercial future of many social media properties, including Google.

This is how the Battle of Big Data squares-up.  On the one hand you have platforms, such as Google and Facebook, amassing  huge behavioural data sets based on information that users give out through their usage of these infrastructures.  Googlebook then sells access to this data gold mine to whom-ever wants it.  On the other hand you have the platform users, who, up until this point, have been relatively happy to hand-over their gold.  The reason for this is that these users see this information as being largely inconsequential, and have no real understanding of its considerable value or the significant consequences of letting an algorithm know what you had for lunch.  The fisticuffs begins when these users start to understand these consequences – because in most instances, their reaction is to say “stop – give me back control over my data.”

There is an enormous amount riding on this.  If users start to make demands to repatriate, or have greater control over, their data – this delivers hammer blows to the commercial viability of Googlebook type businesses, who are either making huge amounts of money from their existing  data goldmine, or have valuations that are based on the future prospect of creating such goldmines.  It also starts to open-up the field for new platforms that make data privacy and control a fundamental part of their proposition.

Initial reports from the field are not encouraging (for Facebook).  There were immediate issues raised about privacy implications which Facebook had to pacify (see this Mashable piece) and significant negative comment from the user community – as reported in this Marketing Week article.  See also this further analysis from Gary Marshall at TechRadar.  It will be very interesting to see how this plays-out.

From another perspective, I think this announcement illustrates what Facebook believes is its advantage over Google – i.e. its sociability and the fact that it can deliver information that is endorsed by people that you know.  The interesting thing about this is that the power of social media lies in its ability to create the processes that allow you to trust strangers.  The value of the information can therefore based on the relevance or expertise of the source – not the fact that they are a friend.  Google is the master of this in a largely unstructured way, and services such as Amazon or even TripAdvisor can deliver this via a more structured process.  Facebook can’t really do this, because it neither has Google level access to enough broad-spectrum data, not does it have processes relevant to specific tasks (Trip Advisor for travel – Amazon for product purchase).

Average Size of a 2012 Sold Home in the Chappaqua NY Area | RobReportBlog

Average Size of a 2012 Sold Home in the Chappaqua NY Area | RobReportBlog

Square Feet2012 Average Size of a Sold Home
3668Armonk
3606Chappaqua
3363Pound Ridge
2762North Salem
4081Bedford NY
2842South Salem
3176Bedford Hills
2907Mount Kisco
2721Katonah

Could owning a gun affect how much you pay for homeowners insurance? | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Gun safety in the home hasn’t been discussed much in the recent national conversation on gun violence, but the head of the nation’s largest homeowners and auto insurance company acknowledges that it could be.

Edward B. Rust Jr., CEO and chairman of the board of State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., said this week that gun ownership “could be among a multitude of things” considered among the risk factors used by insurance companies to determine the cost of homeowners insurance policies. “But,” he added, “whether someone owns a gun doesn’t necessarily make them a risk. . . . The bigger debate is, Are people competent in gun ownership?”

Rust made his comments following a panel discussion at a forum for property and casualty insurers held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York on Monday.

In recent weeks, some commentators have suggested that insurance could play a role in mitigating gun violence. Insurers could offer discounts for gun owners who indicated they use gun locks and other safety features, suggests Marsha N. Cohen, a law professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. Another option: Consumers would have to show proof of coverage before buying guns.

Accidents represent just 2.6 percent of all gun fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that figure rose by 37 percent, from 1.9 percent, from 2010 to 2011.

State Farm does not specifically ask applicants whether they own firearms, says Jeff McCollum, a company spokesman. In most states, the company’s standard homeowners policy covers up to $2,500 of loss if guns are stolen or destroyed. Owners of expensive collectible guns can buy a separate “personal articles policy” for the value of what they own.

State Farm does not give special discounts for people who use gun locks and other safety devices, McCollum said. The company sells policies in every state and has 20 to 25 percent of the homeowners and auto insurance market. (Check our buying guide and Ratings for homeowners insurance.)

Rust seemed reluctant to insert himself or the industry in the gun-violence debate. He acknowledged that “compliance and safety” had to be part of people’s thinking about guns. But, he said, while there was a need for a “healthy debate” on the subject, insurers weren’t geared up to police policyholders on whether they’re taking proper gun-safety measures in the home. “It’s like seat belt laws,” he said. “Wearing a seat belt can mitigate injuries. But we can’t pull everyone over to make sure they’re wearing a belt.”

Remodeling market reports strong fourth quarter numbers | Chappaqua Homes

The Remodeling Market Index hit its highest reading since the first quarter 2004, hitting 55 in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The fourth quarter report increased five points from the previous quarter.

Any RMI above 50 means most home improvement workers are reporting strong demand for their services.

“Remodelers are optimistic about the outlook for slow and steady market growth in the new year,” said 2013 NAHB Remodelers Chairman Bill Shaw. “Professional remodelers reported more work from large and small projects as well as overall home repair.”

Future remodeling activity indicators rose to 56, up from the previous quarter’s 49. Current conditions also revealed improvement, up from 52 in the previous quarter to 54.

“With existing home sales up, the increase in the RMI partially reflects the remodeling work new home owners undertake when they move in,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Consumers are gaining confidence in the economy and feeling more comfortable pulling the trigger on large and small renovations.”

The RMI in the Northeast saw the largest increase, jumping 24 points. This is due largely to the start of remodeling work related to Hurricane Sandy damage. All four regions of the country saw an RMI above 50.

Hurricane Sandy to spawn storm of insurance lawsuits | Bedford Corners Real Estate

bz0113insure MILLS 2.JPG Susan Sharif and her husband are suing their insurance company and broker, claiming they told the broker they wanted complete insurance coverage on their now-ruined Brick home, but were not notified their policy did not cover flooding. Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

For years, Susan and Ahmad Sharif thought of their little beachfront cottage in Brick as the home they’d retire to one day. When Hurricane Sandy’s monster storm surge pushed the house off its foundation and collapsed the garage, they felt reassured by one thought: Their insurance company would cover the loss.

They were wrong.

Despite taking out a policy that covered the house for $175,000 and its contents for $50,000, all the Sharifs got from Paramount Insurance Co. was $6,343.68. The money wasn’t for the hole the storm tore in the back of the house or the furniture inside. It was for siding torn from the outside of the house by Sandy’s gale-force winds. Paramount told the Chatham couple, who had been renting out their Brick house, that they were covered only for wind damage, not flood damage, although the Sharifs say they thought they were covered for both.

All over the barrier islands and the Bayshore, homeowners are learning from their insurance carriers about to what extent their losses are covered. Some who have been disappointed, such as the Sharifs, have decided to take their cases to court.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lawsuits, may eventually be filed over Sandy insurance claims that were denied or paid out too little in the eyes of the policyholder, according to plaintiffs’ attorneys and lawyers for the insurers.

Legal experts, however, believe these lawsuits will be anything but slam dunks. They also note that lawsuits account for only a small percentage of the total number of Sandy insurance claims filed in New Jersey, which to date total about half a million.

Litigation will be centered on a few types of disputes, say experts, from wind-versus-flood determinations to business interruption claims to alleged negligence by insurance brokers.

The Sharifs are suing both Paramount and their insurance broker, Tri-County Agency of Brick, claiming that at the time they purchased their home, they told the broker they wanted complete insurance coverage. They weren’t notified that their policy didn’t cover flooding and weren’t advised to buy flood insurance, they said.

“I 100 percent thought that I had flood insurance,” Susan Sharif said, recalling the disbelief she felt when her claim was largely denied. “My house is 20 feet from the water. Why would I not have flood insurance?”

Standard homeowners and commercial policies do not cover flood losses. To be covered for flooding, a separate policy must be acquired through the National Flood Insurance Program. Only home and business owners in high-risk flood zones who have mortgages through a federally backed lender, like a bank, are required by law to purchase federal flood insurance. Part of the problem for the Sharifs is that when they bought their beach cottage in 2005, they paid for it all in cash, according to property records as well as their attorney, Tom Maloney of Morristown. Without a mortgage, there was no bank-mandated requirement that they purchase flood insurance.

In a lawsuit filed last month in Superior Court in Morris County, the Sharifs allege that Paramount, a unit of the New York-based Magna Carta Cos., failed to send annual notices, required under New Jersey law, that their homeowners policy did not cover losses due to flooding. They also claim Paramount acknowledged it had no record of sending them the required notice about flood insurance, and allege the company continued to deny them any additional coverage for their loss.

Gary Stewart, a vice president of human resources at Paramount, declined to comment on the litigation, but said the company is “proud of our excellent record of superior service and customer satisfaction.”

Marshall Bilder, an attorney for Tri-County Agency, also declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but noted in an e-mail that the firm has a record of professionalism and community service, and that its own employees had homes that were devastated by Sandy.

“Unfortunately, tragedies like this spawn litigation which could take years to resolve,” Bilder wrote.

Attorneys said it is difficult to speculate on rates of success, but policyholders face a number of hurdles. The terms of flood insurance policies, for one, tend to be inflexible, they said. Litigation is also costly and time-consuming at a time when homeowners and businesses are trying to rebuild.

Robert Hartwig, president and economist with the Insurance Information Institute, an industry-funded group, said courts have not looked kindly upon attempts to “sue for coverage that didn’t exist in the policy.”

TWO WAVES

Harry Baumgartner, an attorney with Bressler Amery & Ross who represents insurers, said he expects two waves of lawsuits: the first arriving in the three-to-six month period after Sandy are just rolling in now. The second wave will come when the time to file is nearing expiration under the statutes of limitations. The disputes can take different forms, according to Gene Killian, an Iselin-based attorney who will likely represent commercial and residential policyholders in Sandy-related lawsuits. Chief among the insurance disputes is determining the cause of the damage. And the more complex the calamity, the harder that can be. Was it wind? Water? Was it wind-driven water?

While standard homeowners and commercial policies do not cover floods, they do cover wind-driven rain. Some policyholders will attempt to argue that wind sheared off their roof, allowing damaging rainwater to pour into their home or business, Killian said.

bz0113insure MILLS 4.JPG Paramount Insurance Co. told the Susan Sharif and her husband, who had been renting out their Brick house, that they were covered only for wind damage, not flood damage, although the Sharifs say they thought they were covered for both. Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

This is what Susanne Bannon believes happened to her. She evacuated her Union Beach townhouse before Sandy struck, only to return to find it reduced to rubble.

Based on the debris and accounts from neighbors who stayed behind during the storm and later told her of wind gusts that sounded like trains overhead, Bannon believes high winds contributed to the collapse.

But her insurer, Allstate, disagreed. Days after an adjuster’s visit, Bannon said, an Allstate representative called to tell her that floodwaters were to blame. As a result, she’d only be covered by her flood insurance policy, which Bannon, who is in her mid-60s, said wouldn’t come close to covering the cost of rebuilding or replacing everything that was lost.

An Allstate spokesman, Danny Jovic, declined to comment on Bannon’s situation, saying the insurer does not discuss individual claims. But in an e-mailed statement, he said, “Adjusters determine whether damage was caused by flood or by wind by examining the facts of each individual claim.

“Generally speaking, claim adjusters are able to determine the cause of damage based on evidence gathered at the property, or as necessary, neighboring properties. This evidence may include reports of engineers and other experts.”

Bannon said as far as she knows, her claim is still under review, although she said she hasn’t been able to get through to her adjuster. But if she gets notice that her claim is denied, she said she will consider suing.

“It’s traumatic to lose your house and everything you own,” she said. “On top of this, you find out your insurance is not helping you at all, that you’re totally on your own after years of paying them.”

WAR OF WORDS

Others will challenge the integrity of policy language that was written to limit their coverage. Many insurance contracts feature what are known as anti-concurrent causation clauses, which means they cover damage caused by a peril such as hurricane-force winds, but not if it occurs at the same time as a peril that is not covered, for example a tidal surge. In these cases, even if a policyholder is insured for wind damage, the insurance company can deny coverage if it occurred at the same time as a second, non-covered peril, such as flooding. Enterprising attorneys will scour individual policies for language that a judge would find exceedingly vague, Bressler Amery’s Baumgartner said.

“If a court were to find sufficient ambiguity, it might negate the exclusion and find for coverage,” he said.

Another fight is brewing over the liability of brokers who sell policies to customers like the Sharifs.

“There is a cottage industry of plaintiff’s attorneys that is forming around the notion that brokers or agents are liable to the extent that they didn’t adequately inform policyholders around the absence of coverage,” Baumgartner said. “Whether or not there’s viability to these cases depends on the facts of the case.”

One such case is under way in Newark.

Cardolite Corp., which turns cashew nut liquids into industrial adhesives and coatings, is suing its insurance broker, Willis of New Jersey, on claims that the broker failed to purchase proper flood coverage for the company’s Newark plant, which is located near the Passaic River. Cardolite’s president is Anthony Stonis, who happens to be a past chairman of New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co.’s board of directors.

The policy that Willis bought excluded flood coverage in the high-risk flood zone that the Cardolite’s facility is located in, according to a Superior Court lawsuit filed last month in Essex County. As a result, the company suffered a $2 million uninsured flood and wind loss during Sandy, Cardolite’s attorneys wrote.

In an e-mail, a Willis spokeswoman said, “Willis always puts our clients’ interests first and adheres to the highest standards in insurance placement. We will address the merits of the case in the proper forum.”

DOWN TO SPECIFICS

In the case of agent liability, cases will turn on the specific discussions between the agent and the client, noted Jay Feinman, a professor of insurance law with Rutgers University in Camden. For example, a customer could have a valid claim if he or she asked for a specific policy that wasn’t bought or voiced specific concerns that weren’t addressed by the agent.

“The agent is not obligated to give you everything,” said Feinman, who has written on insurer tactics to deny and defend claims.

But other attorneys note that New Jersey courts have ruled that policyholders can rely on their brokers’ expertise in certain circumstances, and that they don’t even need to have read their policy to be protected.

“Fairly or unfairly, people are going to say we thought we had this coverage,” Killian, the Iselin attorney, said.

That is the case of the Sharifs, who claim Tri-County Agency breached its duty by allegedly failing to advise them to buy flood insurance or offer it to them. They also accuse the agency of negligence because the person who sold them their initial policy, identified in the complaint only by the name of Ernie, allegedly assured the Sharifs that he was familiar with the property and that he would secure for them full coverage.

“I told him what I needed,” Susan Sharif said of the Tri-County representative, whom she said has since left the brokerage and who is not named as a defendant in their case. “I told him all the details of my home, and I told them I needed the appropriate insurance policy.”

With the house slated for demolition, Susan Sharif said she and her husband, who are in their late 50s and early 60s, don’t have the ability to rebuild from scratch. “It’s a huge loss in our state, our age to have our security taken away because some company didn’t do their job,” she said.

via nj.com