Louisiana Hurricane Damage Lawyer
40+ Years
of Combined Experience
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with over 400 Reviews
Over $125M
Won for Clients That Have Become Family
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Date Last Updated: January 10, 2025
In recent decades, hurricanes have caused almost incalculable destruction in Louisiana. Paying for the damage out of pocket is impossible for most families. Many Louisiana home and business owners purchase insurance, expecting their insurer to pay for repair and rebuilding costs in the event of a hurricane. Unfortunately, property owners often lose out on compensation because the companies they trust fail to keep their promises.
Don’t take an insurance company’s denial of your hurricane damage claim as the final say. The skilled hurricane damage lawyers at Shamieh Law are ready to push back against insurers who deny your claim or offer you less coverage than you deserve. We’ll review your claim and develop a solid strategy to fight for the compensation you need after a storm. Our skilled personal injury lawyers serve our community in Louisiana from our office in Lake Charles. Contact us today to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.
Shamieh Law Is Here To Help Louisiana Families in Their Time of Need
Louisiana hurricane damage can be life-altering and catastrophic. Many families have lost homes and loved ones due to the severe hurricanes that hit our state. At Shamieh Law, we take great pride in our work helping everyday people get back on their feet and rebuild their lives after serious accidents and traumatic life events. Our award-winning personal injury attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in case results for our clients throughout Louisiana.
Founding partner Ramez Shamieh was born and raised in Lake Charles, one of the areas most affected by Hurricane Laura in 2020. As a Louisiana native, he understands how significant claims like this can be for folks throughout our state. Whether you’re new to Louisiana or have lived here for decades, Shamieh Law is here to help you navigate your hurricane damage claim.
You need a hardworking and compassionate team on your side when trying to secure hurricane damage compensation. Our firm focuses on “Winning With Awareness,” taking a holistic, people-first approach to the cases we handle. When you choose us to handle your claim, we will treat you like family and ensure you receive the high-quality legal representation you deserve. To learn more about the high quality of our services, read the glowing testimonials we regularly receive from our clients.
My family’s house was completely destroyed by Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Ida. I didn’t just serve as my family's lawyer. I served as their counselor to help them process the emotions that go into losing everything. I was honored to have the privilege of doing that. When you grow up in an area such as Lake Charles, that community is so connected that it becomes part of your soul. And when somebody else loses something in that community, it sometimes feels like you’ve lost something, and you want to do everything you can to help them. That’s the stance we take against these crooked insurance companies who are making people's lives so much more difficult than they should be, especially after losing so much. These insurance companies are piranhas, and they have no heart. Our mission is to make sure they don’t take advantage of anybody. And that’s what drives us to provide justice for everybody that’s been affected by a hurricane.
The Impact of Recent Hurricanes on Insurance Claims in Louisiana
On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida, a Category-4 storm, landed near Port Fourchon, Louisiana. It made a path throughout the south, traveling at winds up to 150 mph. The storm wreaked havoc on both residential and commercial properties alike. The damage totaled $75 billion across impacted states.
As of September 2022, 478,417 storm damage claims had been filed. Jefferson, Orleans, Terrebonne, and St. Tammany parishes reported the highest numbers. Only 67 percent of these claims were paid out, while 10 percent had yet to be solved. A year later, survivors are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Some are still holding out in hopes of securing their insurance benefits.
Hurricane Laura, a Category-4 storm, landed on August 27, 2020, at Cameron, Louisiana, just south of Lake Charles. The storm caused injuries, death, and widespread property damage throughout the region. Calcasieu, Rapides, and Beauregard parishes were most affected.
As of September 2021, 177,691 hurricane damage claims had been filed. All in all, 72 percent closed with payments. Meanwhile, 10 percent are still pending.
Hurricane Beryl hit Texas as a Category 1 storm on July 8, 2024. While the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit Louisiana, it still caused tornadoes and flooding, with 67 tornado warnings in a single day reported in Shreveport.
Even as a tropical storm, Beryl caused drastic damage across the northwestern part of the state, leading Governor Jeff Landry to call for federal assistance. Conservative estimates of damage to insured property across the country rose over $7 billion.
Hurricane Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane in Terrebonne Parish on September 11, 2024, with wind speeds upwards of 100 mph. Francine caused major destruction across the state, with cost estimates at roughly $9 billion. The federal government approved FEMA aid to the state, and insurance claims for Francine are still being processed.
Flash flooding occurred in St. Tammany Parish and Lafourche Parish, particularly around Thibodaux and Kraemer, where multiple water rescues were conducted. Plaquemines Parish also saw a tornado warning.
What You Can Do to Get Your Full Insurance Benefits After a Hurricane
If you believe your insurance company is not handling your hurricane damage claim properly, you can file a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. There are a few other things you can do after a storm to help ensure you receive full insurance benefits for your damages, such as:
- Document your damages – Take extensive videos and pictures of the damage caused to your home, both inside and outside.
- Take measures to reduce additional damage – Make temporary repairs and take extra measures to prevent further damage to your property.
- Keep track of the receipts for temporary repairs – If you pay out of pocket, store the receipts and evidence of transactions between you and the contractor.
- Hire a licensed contractor – Hire only a licensed and insured contractor for temporary repairs or rebuilding. Also, be sure you sign a clearly worded and itemized contract for easy reference.
- File supplemental claims – If you discover more damages after receiving initial benefits, you can file a supplemental claim as many times as necessary until all damages are taken care of.
- Partner with a Louisiana hurricane damage claims attorney – Our lawyers have a deep understanding of Louisiana insurance law and know what it takes to push back when insurers attempt to deny your claim.
Navigating Hurricane Damage Insurance Claims and Insurer Bad Faith
An insurance company acts in bad faith when it wrongly denies, delays, or miscalculates your payments. Examples of bad faith by insurers include misrepresenting relevant policy provisions, altering applications without notice, and making misleading remarks to insurance customers.
This behavior is prohibited by state law, allowing impacted property owners to pursue compensation from insurers for damages caused or worsened by their misbehavior. Common reasons an insurer may justify denying claims after a hurricane include:
- Failure to file a claim within the 180-day state deadline.
- Failure to mitigate additional hurricane damages that were preventable.
- Application for losses not covered by standard homeowners’ insurance, such as flood damages.
- Lack of proof of loss for your damages.
Whether these reasons are legitimate is another question. If you’ve provided sufficient proof of the losses you suffered and your insurer refuses to pay, it may be possible to pursue bad faith penalties under Louisiana state law.
The hurricane damage attorneys at Shamieh Law are familiar with the complexities of insurance claims in Louisiana. We can help you determine if your insurer’s conduct is lawful and make sure that you’re compensated appropriately.
What Our Louisiana Hurricane Claims Lawyers Can Do to Help
Having a Louisiana hurricane damage attorney help you navigate the insurance claims process is always in your best interest. Although hiring a hurricane damage lawyer is not legally mandatory, having one on your side can spare you endless back-and-forth negotiations with insurers eager to deny your claim. Let the skilled legal team at Shamieh Law put our extensive experience to work for you.
Our legal team has decades of experience helping folks in our community secure the full and fair compensation they deserve. We would be honored to do the same for your family. Our hurricane claims lawyers can:
- Ensure you know your full legal rights and options
- Thoroughly investigate your case
- Gather all available evidence
- Gather expert testimony
- Calculate your damages
- Comply with the Louisiana statute of limitations
- Handle settlement negotiations with insurers
- Take your case to court if a fair settlement is not reached
Most insurance policies allow you to recover compensation for property damage, including movable items (clothing, food, appliances, etc.) damaged as a direct result of a storm. In addition to property damage claims, we can even file a claim for Additional Living Expenses (ALE). This is normally reserved for mandatory evacuation scenarios and covers the costs of hotels and other expenses if you need to leave your home in a storm.
Schedule a Free Consultation with a Hurricane Damage Lawyer at Shamieh Law
Surviving a hurricane is hard enough. You shouldn’t have to suffer the additional burden of an insurance company wrongfully diminishing the value of your property damage claim or denying it altogether. The Louisiana hurricane damage claims attorneys at Shamieh Law are committed to protecting the rights of hurricane survivors by pushing back against unscrupulous insurers.
Contact us by calling (337) 477-7222 or completing our online form. Your consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.
