Just listen to them.
The Port of New Orleans retained our firm as its counsel two years after Hurricane Katrina struck. The Port filed its lawsuit a year after the hurricane, and the case went nowhere for the next year. The Port and its insurer were light years apart regarding the valuation of loss. Being late to the game, we needed to determine the evidence and key witnesses to determine the amount of damage to the 26 miles of Port property along and close to the Mississippi River.
At the same time, along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, business owners and homeowners also retained us. We had opened offices in Gulfport and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. We argued against class action certification of Katina losses in Mississippi because we thought that policyholders would receive pennies on the dollar. The federal judge agreed with us. I wrote about that hearing and the Hurricane Katrina litigation climate in A Tribute to Hurricane Katrina Judge Senter.
What does representing one client with a huge nine-figure loss, like the Port of New Orleans, have in common with hundreds of losses of just as important, but lower valuation? What is the most important step each adjuster of whatever kind should do in each case where a catastrophe has struck the community?
At the Port, I was fortunate to have public adjuster Slaten Bickford work with me. We devised a plan to meet with all the various maintenance teams, their managers, and then the executives to whom the managers reported, in order to obtain a picture of what the “before and after” Hurricane Katrina scenario looked like and gather all the evidence we could find to support those scenarios. We would have Café Du Monde coffee with beignets in the morning and Dixie beer for afternoon meetings. We carefully listened to each individual’s story and group story. During this time, Slaten became engaged, as I noted in A Katrina Love Story Involving a Very Talented Young Public Adjuster.
Three people, more than anybody else, listened to all our clients in Mississippi. Cindy Cady, William Weatherly and Randy Santa Cruz joined our firm right after Hurricane Katrina struck their beloved Mississippi coast. Each homeowner and business had a different story. Each had a different story of survival. Each had a different value of loss. The perils of wind and flood occurred slightly differently for each structure. There was a lot of listening to get those stories right and to collect the evidence needed to prevail.
Listening is important for more than just money. Twelve years ago, I talked about this in The Emotional Impact of Catastrophes:
In the cleanup and recovery following Hurricane Isaac, the truth is that for most, the damage from this storm cannot compare to the devastation following Katrina. Thirteen years from now, we will likely still find scars from Katrina. But I doubt there will be signs of Hurricane Isaac’s wrath a year from now. Yet, for those whose homes and businesses were flooded or who are wading in water today, they will undoubtedly question their decision to live in areas so vulnerable to hurricane damage. Is it worth the emotional and financial cost?
You can still see the remaining slabs of structures that were not rebuilt on the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.
On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, all readers of this blog should go back and reflect upon lessons from John Putnam, as I wrote in Every Claims Professional Must Read Putnam Now: Emotional Recovery After Wildfire Loss. While he focuses on wildfire losses, many of the lessons apply to a Hurricane Katrina scenario.
Claims executives and managers need a sufficient number of motivated, experienced, and qualified adjusters with authority to get their jobs done. The “sufficient” part allows time to complete the first important step. Listen to those who suffered from the loss.
Thought For The Day
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
—Fred Rogers
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