Letter to Administrator Craig Fugate, FEMA - Flood Insurance and Sandy

Letter

Dear Administrator Fugate:

Hurricane Sandy caused extensive physical destruction in several regions, leaving many with significant rebuilding costs. It is critical that the federal government's core disaster-related and assistance programs operate efficiently and are well-coordinated.

I appreciate that, in response to mounting evidence that Write Your Own (WYO) insurance companies in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) actively defrauded Superstorm Sandy victims to reduce claims payouts, FEMA has announced a number of corrective actions for the program including a review of all 144,000 claims that were filed under the NFIP as a result of Sandy.

Ensuring homeowners receive the assistance they need is critical to the long term recovery of this region. We owe it to them to get it right. I know that America's homeowners can count on your administration to stand by them and oversee a review process that is transparent and fair.

In that regard, I would request that this review process include the following:

Strong mechanisms to ensure fairness;

An advocate or ombudsman for claimants to work with in securing fair compensation for their losses; and

A method for ensuring settlements take into account the actual higher materials costs in the New York-New Jersey market area

I thank you for your leadership in the response to this disaster. If you have any questions or would like to discuss these matters further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

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