Scrape TV Home Scrapeipedia The Town of LaRue Community Forum (new) Scrape Store (coming soon)

Scrape TV Humour

Scrape TV News

Scrape TV On the Air

NEWS > U.S.A. > HURRICANE IKE CLEAN-UP BEGINS DESPITE INSURANCE COMPANY PROTESTS

HURRICANE IKE CLEAN-UP BEGINS DESPITE INSURANCE COMPANY PROTESTS

September 14, 2008

Houston, TX – As rescue teams continue to comb through the wreckage trying to find any survivors, the clean-up of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ike is also beginning. Residents are making their ways back to their homes, picking through what remains of their belongings, and trying to assess what kind of damage has been done, much to the chagrin of insurance companies.

The Federal Emergency Management Authority estimated to potential damage from Ike to top ten billion dollars, the majority of which would be made up by private insurance companies some of which are still reeling from Hurricane Gustav just two weeks ago. Many of those companies are urging residents to stay calm and see what they can salvage.

“Obviously we aren’t asking people to live in treacherous conditions. I mean if they want to, that’s totally up to them, but we aren’t asking,” said a spokesperson for Nationwide Insurance. “We just want people to be selective in what they claim. This isn’t like New Orleans where there’s a great deal of poverty. The Houston area has quite a bit of money and most of these residents can afford to replace items such as TV’s and couches by themselves without going through insurance. Things have been tough of late and we just want our customers to realize that and have a little mercy.”

Compounding the problem for the Insurance giants is the recent mortgage crisis which has left a great number of homes in the hands of banks, not private individuals, who are less likely to be forgiving when it comes to filing claims.

“The advantage there is those homes are empty and so there is less to claim. The disadvantage is that there really isn’t any wiggle room,” continued the spokesperson “Banks are a business and they are going to get what they are owed. It’s a lot easier for us to finagle and negotiate with individuals than it is with other corporations. We just don’t have the same level of influence or control over them.”

Nationwide, as well as fellow insurers Allstate, State Farm, and Progressive have already dispatched agents to the damaged areas in an effort to head off potential claims before they happen. We were able to speak to one agent who spoke to us while waist deep in water.

“Our job out here is to make sure that people don’t react rashly.” The agent preferred to remain anonymous. “We will never say to people ‘hey, don’t claim that’ but we want to work with them to make sure they aren’t claiming indiscriminately. No amount of money is going to bring back Grandma’s rocking chair so why even bother claiming it? I see this as an opportunity for people to get rid of a lot of their junk. I kinda wish a Hurricane would hit my house, well my garage at least. You gotta look at the positive side and just try to make do. Be thankful no one was hurt. You know, the standard stuff. We’re just asking people to stay rational and not lose their heads because of a little water.”

Mike Michaels, American Correspondent 

NEWS > U.S.A. > HURRICANE IKE CLEAN-UP BEGINS DESPITE INSURANCE COMPANY PROTESTS