Tweet
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The $10,000 Midland Beach homeowner Kathleen Palazzolla received in December to repair the ground-level floor of her four-story home didn't cover all of her expenses after Sandy roared through -- dumping 5 feet of water in her house and 12 feet out front.
But it sure helped.
"The money left my hands in three minutes," Ms. Palazzolla said the other day.
Between putting up new drywall, replacing the floor, purchasing and installing a sliding glass door that led from the ground-floor family room to her back yard and gutting and restoring the half-bathroom, Ms. Palazzolla still had to shell out thousands more for incidentals as well as furniture.
So imagine her shock when she received the phone call from a FEMA "auditor" in February -- which had her in tears at her desk at work -- telling her an "error" had been made and she had to return between $7,000-$8,000. Pronto.
For starters, she doesn't have it to give back.
Secondly, she doesn't understand why.
Ms. Palazzolla said she was told by FEMA that the independent adjuster for her insurance company, Travelers Insurance, who did the post-Sandy walk-through of her property, inspecting her losses and creating the original claim report, had made an "error."
The alleged error: Reporting that the destroyed space was a living area because, on ÂÂsecond thought, FEMA now considered the space a basement and not a living area.
FEMA doesn't pay to repair destroyed basements, only living space.
This despite the fact that Ms. Palazzolla had used the ground-level floor of her home on Jefferson Avenue, where she has lived for 16 years, as a family room, complete with a TV, stereo and furniture. Not as a basement storage area. She also accessed her back yard through the room's sliding glass door.
And she had the "before" Sandy photos to prove it.
This as the trauma of her ordeal is still fresh: A mile from the beach in Zone A, Ms. Palazzolla hadn't evacuated because of the looting that occurred during Hurricane Irene. The water that destroyed her ground floor, she added, hadn't come from the beach, but had snaked around from flooded Hylan Boulevard.
2insure18.jpg Ms. Palazzolla shows the photos taken of the damage to her home caused by Hurricane Sandy. After receiving a $10,000 check, she is being told she has to return the money. Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores
"I just want to move on with my life," she said.
But with the threat of having to pay back thousands, she can't, she can't.
Her Travelers agent is on her side.
"It's been extremely frustrating, the way FEMA and Travelers has handled this," her insurance broker, Tom Aloia of Aloia McKinnon Insurance, Brooklyn, told the Advance. "The flood program is a federally funded program, dictated by FEMA, which sets the rates. Travelers is a vendor for the government. I have been trying to be an advocate for her. But FEMA has been totally unresponsive. They don't even answer the e-mails I've sent. It makes no sense. It is illogical. In my 30 years in this business, I have never seen anything like it."
Indeed, in an e-mail to FEMA to plead Ms. Palazzolla's case, Aloia wrote: "I'm at a total loss to explain what is being accomplished by asking a victim to return money to Travelers."
Ms. Palazzolla contacted Sen. Charles Schumer's office to see if he could weigh in on her behalf.
"Far too many flood insurance operators hide behind technicalities and make the recovery process more difficult for far too many Sandy victims," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement to the Advance. "I have urged FEMA to change their policies in this regard, and will work to specifically help Ms. Palazzolla get through this bureaucratic nightmare."
FEMA spokeswoman Denise Everheart told the Advance that Ms. Palazzolla's situation is "under review."
However, Ms. Everheart said if Ms. Palazzolla received a payout, it would have been accompanied by a statement she would have been obligated to sign saying, in part, "If it is determined your claim is not a valid claim under your flood policy, you agree to reimburse 'XYZ' insurance company the 'dollar amount' advanced to you."
Ms. Palazzolla said she did not receive such a statement with the $10,000 check.
Meanwhile, Ms. Palazzolla, whose family moved to Midland Beach in 1968, said she does have one thing on her side if she has to go the legal route to fight back: She's a law secretary with a Manhattan law firm.
---
But it sure helped.
"The money left my hands in three minutes," Ms. Palazzolla said the other day.
Between putting up new drywall, replacing the floor, purchasing and installing a sliding glass door that led from the ground-floor family room to her back yard and gutting and restoring the half-bathroom, Ms. Palazzolla still had to shell out thousands more for incidentals as well as furniture.
So imagine her shock when she received the phone call from a FEMA "auditor" in February -- which had her in tears at her desk at work -- telling her an "error" had been made and she had to return between $7,000-$8,000. Pronto.
For starters, she doesn't have it to give back.
Secondly, she doesn't understand why.
Ms. Palazzolla said she was told by FEMA that the independent adjuster for her insurance company, Travelers Insurance, who did the post-Sandy walk-through of her property, inspecting her losses and creating the original claim report, had made an "error."
The alleged error: Reporting that the destroyed space was a living area because, on ÂÂsecond thought, FEMA now considered the space a basement and not a living area.
FEMA doesn't pay to repair destroyed basements, only living space.
This despite the fact that Ms. Palazzolla had used the ground-level floor of her home on Jefferson Avenue, where she has lived for 16 years, as a family room, complete with a TV, stereo and furniture. Not as a basement storage area. She also accessed her back yard through the room's sliding glass door.
And she had the "before" Sandy photos to prove it.
This as the trauma of her ordeal is still fresh: A mile from the beach in Zone A, Ms. Palazzolla hadn't evacuated because of the looting that occurred during Hurricane Irene. The water that destroyed her ground floor, she added, hadn't come from the beach, but had snaked around from flooded Hylan Boulevard.
2insure18.jpg Ms. Palazzolla shows the photos taken of the damage to her home caused by Hurricane Sandy. After receiving a $10,000 check, she is being told she has to return the money. Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores
"I just want to move on with my life," she said.
But with the threat of having to pay back thousands, she can't, she can't.
Her Travelers agent is on her side.
"It's been extremely frustrating, the way FEMA and Travelers has handled this," her insurance broker, Tom Aloia of Aloia McKinnon Insurance, Brooklyn, told the Advance. "The flood program is a federally funded program, dictated by FEMA, which sets the rates. Travelers is a vendor for the government. I have been trying to be an advocate for her. But FEMA has been totally unresponsive. They don't even answer the e-mails I've sent. It makes no sense. It is illogical. In my 30 years in this business, I have never seen anything like it."
Indeed, in an e-mail to FEMA to plead Ms. Palazzolla's case, Aloia wrote: "I'm at a total loss to explain what is being accomplished by asking a victim to return money to Travelers."
Ms. Palazzolla contacted Sen. Charles Schumer's office to see if he could weigh in on her behalf.
"Far too many flood insurance operators hide behind technicalities and make the recovery process more difficult for far too many Sandy victims," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement to the Advance. "I have urged FEMA to change their policies in this regard, and will work to specifically help Ms. Palazzolla get through this bureaucratic nightmare."
FEMA spokeswoman Denise Everheart told the Advance that Ms. Palazzolla's situation is "under review."
However, Ms. Everheart said if Ms. Palazzolla received a payout, it would have been accompanied by a statement she would have been obligated to sign saying, in part, "If it is determined your claim is not a valid claim under your flood policy, you agree to reimburse 'XYZ' insurance company the 'dollar amount' advanced to you."
Ms. Palazzolla said she did not receive such a statement with the $10,000 check.
Meanwhile, Ms. Palazzolla, whose family moved to Midland Beach in 1968, said she does have one thing on her side if she has to go the legal route to fight back: She's a law secretary with a Manhattan law firm.
---
Comment