Mississippi's insurance commissioner said today that Nationwide Insurance Companies will voluntarily reevaluate Hurricane Katrina slab cases in the state.
"This should result in additional wind-related payments on a significant number of Katrina claims along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi," said Insurance Commissioner George Dale.
The reevaluation of cases where homes were completely destroyed, leaving only the foundation slab, will affect policyholders in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties.
"This is just another step in the road to recovery for Mississippi," said Mr. Dale.
The Mississippi Insurance Department has been working with Nationwide over several months in an effort to ensure that as much money as possible is placed in the hands of the victims of Katrina, the department said.
Joe Case, a spokesman for the Columbus, Ohio-based insurer, said 99 percent of the estimated 20,000 Mississippi Katrina claims have been settled with about $270 million in claims paid out.
The slab cases remain the most difficult to adjust, he said.
"We will be open to new information the customers may provide," he said.
But he added that there were no new steps that could be taken to determine if wind or flooding caused the damage.
Nationwide's homeowner and commercial policies did not provide coverage for flooding, the department pointed out. Where the cause of damage could not be distinguished between wind and flood, no payment was offered. However, several months ago Nationwide began a re-review of all claims to make sure that damage potentially caused by wind would be paid, said the department.
Under the new plan, Nationwide has reevaluated thousands of the most difficult to adjust Katrina claims. As a result of these reevaluations, Nationwide will be sending letters to hundreds of Mississippi policyholders to inform them they may be eligible for additional payments due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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