PENSACOLA, Fla., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Hurricane season may be coming to a
close, but it is open season on insurance companies. The aftermath of Ivan
and other hurricanes has created a completely new kind of storm surge --
hurricane claim litigation. And one Pensacola attorney, Samuel Bearman, is
setting the stage for a battle of mammoth proportions.
"A lot of insurance companies are basically abandoning their customers
by refusing to pay out reasonable amounts on hurricane damage claims," says
Bearman, leading attorney in hurricane claim litigation. "Sometimes they
deny coverage altogether and pay nothing."
"Can you imagine paying those premiums for all those years -- thinking
that you'd be covered if a hurricane hit -- and then when you need your
insurance company the most, they basically tell you to jump off a bridge?
It's unconscionable. I am more determined than ever to help my clients get
the money they're entitled to to rebuild their homes, their businesses ...
and their lives," says a resolute Bearman.
In fact, he has already begun. In a lawsuit dated October 28, 2004 and
filed in the Circuit Court of Escambia County, Florida, by the Law Offices
of Samuel W. Bearman (www.bearmanlaw.com),
Mr. Bearman has initiated what is believed to be the first Hurricane Ivan
lawsuit in Pensacola. In the suit, Finley v. United States Automobile
Association, Bearman alleges that the defendant breached its insurance
policy agreement by not paying the Finleys for the total loss of their
house and for its contents due to Ivan. He also alleges the defendant
should have advised his clients of the availability of, and reasonable need
to purchase, flood insurance. He primarily seeks damages in the suit.
"This is only the beginning," Bearman comments. He expects a merciless
barrage of hurricane lawsuits to ensue so long as insurance companies
continue to "absolve themselves of responsibility."
Bearman, who filed over 50 hurricane lawsuits after Hurricane Opal in
1995 and who recently authored the widely-circulated report, "12 Things You
Should Know When Filing Your Hurricane Damage Claim," has received
significant television, radio and newspaper coverage for his hurricane law
experience.
For more information on the lawsuit, to request a copy of the free
hurricane report, or to interview Mr. Bearman, call (800) 760-6065.
