LONG BEACH, N.Y. (Reuters) – Standing in the driveway next to the charred shell of his house on Long Beach, Long Island, with the hood open to his water-logged, brand-new 2012 Subaru Outback, Bill Long heard the words so many in the path of superstorm Sandy have been hoping to hear: “I'll take care of that.”
The words came from Matthew Stewart, a total loss specialist for insurer USAA, who took just a few seconds to see the tell-tale debris of water damage that will likely spell disaster for many cars in Sandy's path. Some 325,000 cars flooded during Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and a similar number could come from this storm.
By the next day, Long expected to have a check in his account for the value of the car.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
