Policyholders Question Integrity of Superstorm Sandy Claims Process

Three federal magistrate judges called off a hearing to explore whether damage reports were altered to justify denials of insurance claims related to Superstorm Sandy, the New York Law Journal's Andrew Keshner reports. The judges, who are presiding over the storm-related insurance litigation, did so after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was going to create a process for disputes about the integrity of engineering practices in claims coming through FEMA's "write your own" program, which allows insurers to write federal flood insurance policies. There are 1,323 cases challenging denials or alleged underpayments by wind and flood insurers, Keshner reports.