Public adjuster for Monroe County shoreline, floodplain, and river-town property

Flood and NFIP overlap

Rising water is a flood policy loss; wind-driven rain through a failed roof is a homeowners loss. In a storm that does both, each carrier has a reason to point at the other. The sequence has to be documented, or the overlap becomes a hole.

Shoreline wind exposure

Nothing slows wind coming off open water. Lakeward slopes take a directional beating that carriers routinely scope as isolated rather than slope-wide, even when the seal is broken across the whole exposed field.

Backup sublimits

Water backup of sewers and drains is an endorsement with its own sublimit, often ten to twenty-five thousand dollars against a loss several times that. Where a municipal surcharge caused it, a separate claim with a strict notice deadline may also exist.

Older river-town stock

Pre-war housing along the Raisin and through the older neighborhoods carries plaster, discontinued materials, and knob-and-tube runs. Repair estimates written for modern assemblies do not price any of it correctly.

Wind off the lake

Water & backup

Hail & roof

Fire & smoke

The water came in from the lake. Is that a flood claim or a homeowners claim?

Usually both, and the split is where money gets lost. Rising surface water and lake surge sit with the flood policy; wind-driven rain through a breached roof or window, backup under an endorsement, and wind damage to the structure sit with the homeowners policy. When one storm produces both, each carrier has an incentive to point at the other. The sequence, the water line, and the point of entry decide that argument.

My basement backed up during the storm. Is that covered?

Only with a water backup of sewers and drains endorsement, and then only to its sublimit — commonly ten to twenty-five thousand dollars, frequently far less than the loss. Check the declarations page first. Where a municipal system surcharge caused it, a separate claim against the municipality may also exist under Michigan's sewage disposal system event statute, and that one carries a strict notice deadline.

Does shoreline exposure change how a roof claim gets scoped?

Yes. Open water gives wind an unobstructed run at the lakeward slopes, and the damage pattern is directional rather than uniform. Carriers often scope only the visibly torn area and treat the rest as undamaged, when the seal across the whole exposed field has been broken. Tabs that lift and reseat cold are still failed tabs — and they have to be documented before the next wind event, not after.

Will you take a file in Monroe or Temperance?

Yes, by arrangement, typically within two to three days — the county is under an hour from the Royal Oak office. On appraisal, umpire, and estimate-review work, where the dispute lives in the documents rather than on the roof, distance is not a factor at all.