TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Airport insurance claim in arbitration

Daily Herald link

Seriously, Nagico claims that the airport's damages are only $33M

From the article, it appears that Nagico alleges that the 54 million it has paid out satisfying the judgment that was entered is the full claim. The airport apparently says its claim is $100mm plus. The interesting thing to me is that this matter seems to be nearing conclusion. Here in NJ there are still many insurance v owner cases being litigated, 6 years later, from "Superstorm" Sandy. Same type of stuff, all interpreting exclusions and deductibles. Including whether Sandy was a "named storm" when the damages occurred. Bottom line, read your policies carefully and understand what's not covered. I have a house in Hilton Head and until I had a claim from Hurricane Matthew I had no idea that I had a $14,000.00 "named storm" deductible.

Nagico is just trying to get out of paying. That's what insurance companies do!!! We have a separate hurricane deductible here in Florida. Usually it's a percentage of the value of the property, which the amount could be HUGE, depending on the value of the property.

Sorry, Carol but that's not what all insurance companies do. My company had a stellar claims record (when I worked there), but unfortunately that's not the case with all property & casualty insurers. I don't know the details regarding the specific policy regarding Princess Julianna Airport, but in my opinion I would suspect that the actual amount of damage lies somewhere between the amounts being mentioned. Many people, including many business owners, need to focus better on just how much insurance they need, what deductibles they are subject to, what perils are excluded, and so on. I've seen both ends of the spectrum with many businesses 'overinsured' and many others who don't understand that flood damage will always be excluded from their policy. I hope they get this worked out soon for the betterment of everyone.

Sammy--my experience here in Florida has been very much what can they NOT pay, and that's pretty common here.. And with all the stories of how many claims are still outstanding in SXM, I think it's very much the same.

Our company entered Florida many years ago, but eventually withdrew for a wide variety of reasons. Some of those reasons were based on insurance regulations that applied in your state. I had hoped we would stay in the Florida market, but it wasn't my decision. I never had any dealings with Nagico, but without knowing the specific policy in place with PJIA it's impossible for me to figure this thing out. But, that's why insurance contracts have arbitration clauses. I'm sure they'll get this thing worked out eventually.

Yes my named storm deductible is 3%. In some of the Sandy litigation the issue is that Sandy went extra-tropical about 75 miles off the Jersey coast. The insurance companies are trying to apply the deductible nonetheless. And the one case I saw involved t multimillion dollar commercial property so the deductible was 6 figures.

We have NAGICO as our insurance carrier for our condo in Oyster Pond. We were VERY happy with the settlement of our claim.

We were settled in two weeks and very good. Plus we were able to help some owners for big property out too. Plus we know the Family personally for thirty years.

Good for both of you, not been our experience.

So sorry to hear .