FEMA Expands Call Center Hours Ahead of Approaching Deadline For Flood Insurance Policyholders to Request a Review of their Hurricane Sandy Claim

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced today that it has expanded the operating hours of the call center that handles requests from flood insurance policyholders who want their insurance claim from Hurricane Sandy reviewed.

The change will provide a greater opportunity for policyholders to enter the Hurricane Sandy Claims Review, including calling over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The last day to request a review is Sept. 15, 2015. Effective immediately, FEMA’s National Processing Service Center will expand its weekday hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). This weekend, as well as next Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 12-13), the call center will be available from 10 a.m. EDT to 6 p.m. On Labor Day, the call center will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.

To be eligible for the review, policyholders must have experienced flood damage between Oct. 27, 2012 and Nov. 6, 2012 as a result of Hurricane Sandy, and must have had an active NFIP flood policy at the time of the loss. Policyholders should call 866-337-4262 to get started.

FEMA is encouraging policyholders to request a review if they believe their Sandy flood insurance claims were underpaid for any reason. More than 12,500 policyholders have entered the review process so far. Most reviews can be concluded in about 90 days.

Policyholders can also go online to www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandy-nfip-claims to download a form requesting a review. The downloaded form can be filled out and emailed to FEMA-sandyclaimsreview@fema.dhs.gov or faxed to 202-646-7970 to begin the review process. For individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and use 711 or VRS, please call 866-337-4262.  For individuals using a TTY, please call 800-462-7585 to begin the review process.

When policyholders call, it is helpful if they have available as much information as possible, including the name(s) on the policy, the address of the damaged property and the 10-digit NFIP policy number that was in effect at the time of the loss. Policyholders will be asked a series of questions to determine whether they qualify for the review. If qualified, they will be called by an adjuster to begin the review. The timing of this call may be affected by the volume of requests.

Policyholders who have already requested a review of their claim do not have to call again. They are in the system and an adjuster will continue to work with them after the Sept. 15 deadline.

The Sandy Claims Review is intended to be simple for the policyholder and does not require paid legal assistance. Several nonprofit service providers are ready to offer free advice and answer questions policyholders may have. A list of these advocacy groups can be found on the claims review website at www.fema.gov/sandyclaims.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

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