Since insurance payments are paid after Jan, homeowners complain about underpayment

PORT CHARLOT, Florida. John Durso Jr. hoped to move into his new home in Port Charlotte last fall.

Durso, who has been confined to a wheelchair for the past three decades, planned to live in the house with his sister and 92-year-old father, a Korean War veteran.

“We need this house so that my father would have my sister,” Durso said.

But Hurricane Yan had other plans when it hit southwest Florida and tore off part of the Durso’s roof.

The house is on nails.

A tarp was left on the roof, and the fence in the backyard was badly damaged.

“You can see all the rotten wood and mold because there was water,” Durso said while giving Fox 4 Investigates a tour of his home.

Durso says he was told by several contractors that it would take more than $200,000 to renovate the house and bring it up to standard.

His insurance check was about half that amount, $111,000.

“I can’t renovate this $111,000 house. I talked to the contractors,” Durso said.

Last month, Fox 4 Investigates drew attention to the concerns of insurance experts like Gina Clausen Lozier, a leading lawyer in the field, that their insurance companies are underpaying people.

“We are seeing underpayments. Come out and pay payments for undisputed (claims), but not necessarily for full damages at the moment,” Lozier said.

Lozier says that if you feel like your insurance company has underpaid you, you can contact your service provider, file a complaint with government regulators, or sue your insurance company.

“It’s just really frustrating,” Durso said. “I did not sleep. I did not eat. I’m having a nervous breakdown.”

State records show that 474,087 homeowner insurance claims were filed in Florida since Hurricane Ian.

Of these, less than half have been paid.

But it is not clear how many of them were paid in full.

“I was left to fend for myself,” said Durso. “I don’t know what else to do.”