CLAIMS ADJUSTERS FACE STRUGGLE TO REACH PROPERTIES

An almost complete infrastructural collapse in parts of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama has made the work of claims adjusters harder than usual. Ray Stone, vice-president of catastrophe operations at St Paul Travelers, said that “the real issue, problem and challenge is the city of New Orleans”. He said that the flow of claims had been slower than expected because communications networks were down throughout the region. Mr Stone noted that St Paul Travelers had entered Biloxi and Gulfport late on Tuesday and that 100 adjusters were at work. A claims adjuster with Nationwide said on his blog that “we will probably not get any closer than Jackson, MS for the time being. We have 800 policies south of I-10 (Interstate 10) that are going to all be total losses. More than 20,000 claims in Mississippi and Alabama so far”. He wrote that Nationwide adjusters would not be entering Biloxi or Gulfport before the weekend.