Close to 1,000 Sandy flood victims have contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency to have their damage claims reviewed since the government entity offered to do so in a first round of letters sent just last week.

Specifically, FMA wrote National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders who filed Superstorm Sandy-related claims, offering them a chance to have their claims looked over. A FEMA spokesperson asserted the high, early response level.

FEMA is mailing the letters in batches by ZIP codes over several weeks to approximately 142,000 policyholders who filed Sandy-related claims. The policyholders have 90 days from the date of the notice to contact FEMA if they decide to sign up for the review.

In the review, policyholders who have not pursued litigation or already received the maximum amount under their policy will have an opportunity to have their files reviewed.

FEMA also announced Friday the official launch of its Sandy flood insurance claims review as part of a broad process to reform NFIP claims and appeals procedures.

“Flood insurance issues arising from Hurricane Sandy are of great concern to FEMA,” said Brad Kieserman, FEMA’s deputy associate administrator for federal insurance. “We are committed to administering a program that is survivor-centric and helps policyholders recover from flooding in a fair, transparent, and expeditious way. I encourage anyone who suspects they may have been treated unfairly to call 866-337-4262.”

FEMA said that as it reviews Sandy claim files, it will also begin overhauling the claims and appeal process and improving the customer experience. FEMA said its goals are excellent customer experience, responsiveness, transparency, low risk of waste, fraud and abuse, and continuous improvement. FEMA said it is also instituting additional oversight of Write Your Own insurance companies to hold them accountable.

Policyholders who incurred losses from Sandy from Oct. 27, 2012, through Nov. 6, 2012, and want their claim reviewed may contact FEMA by:

• Calling toll-free at 866-337-4262.
• Email by downloading an application online (www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-national-flood-insurance-program-claims-review) and submitting it to FEMA-sandyclaimsreview@fema.dhs.gov.
• Fax by downloading an application online and submitting it to 202-646-7970.
• Calling 1-866-337-4262 for individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability using 711 or VRS, and 800-462-7585 for individuals using a TTY.

Source: FEMA