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Sandy Aftermath: The Purcells of Toms River were sold more flood insurance than the could ever collect. Now they’re getting lowballed

By Art Gallagher

Following up on the story of the Purcells from Toms River posted last week, my friend Ken Braswell of ShoreGrafx and I visited the Purcells at what is left of their home.

Kim and Jay were sold a flood insurance policy with a $206,000 dollar limit, well in excess of the value of the home.  A engineer they hired at their own expense (because their insurance adjuster told them it may take a year for the insurance company to send a engineer) and a contractor told them their house could not be rebuilt and must be torn down.  Their insurance company said their house can be rebuilt for $28,000.  The insurance company adjuster said he was sending the check and closing the file, regardless of what the Purcells or the public adjuster they hired had to say about it.

Since we visited Kim and Jay, the insurance company has reopened the file and is sending an engineer out to inspect the home.  Let’s hope the insurance company does the right thing.

If they don’t, we’ll have a lot more material to publicize.

Posted: February 24th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Flooding, Hurricane Sandy, Superstorm Sandy | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

The Aftermath of Sandy: The Purcells of Toms River

Just over a month after Superstorm Sandy destroyed their Toms River home, Jay and Kim Purcell were optimistic and resolute about rebuilding.

This video was posted on YouTube on December 5, 2012.  If the embedded video is not working, try viewing it here on YouTube.

Over the past three months Kim and Jay have done what they were supposed to do.  They dealt in good faith with their insurance companies.  The spent their own money hiring engineers and adjusters.

The Purcell’s optimism has been replaced with despair.  They’re dealing with red tape and low ball offers from their insurance companies.  Kim looks like she’s aged 10 years in the last three months.

This video was posted on YouTube on February 17th, 2013. The Purcell’s have been out of their home for 112 days.

 

If the embedded video is not working, try viewing it here on YouTube.

Posted: February 19th, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: FEMA, Hurricane Sandy | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »