Delaware Public Adjuster

Delaware’s low, flat coast makes storm surge and wind-driven rain a recurring source of property claims — and a recurring source of disagreement over what the policy actually covers. In a state this near sea level, the difference between wind and water decides the claim. UPA represents Delaware property owners through that distinction — never the carrier.

Delaware’s exposure comes from its geography as much as any single storm. Sitting low along the Atlantic and the Delaware Bay, the state absorbs coastal flooding and wind from nor’easters and passing tropical systems in most storm seasons, and the beach communities and back-bay neighborhoods around the coast flood repeatedly during major events. Because so much of the state is at or near grade, even a moderate storm can push tidal water into homes that a stronger inland structure would shrug off.

UPA is licensed to serve policyholders in Delaware. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit public adjusting firm, and we never take a penny out of a property or business owner's pocket — our fee is covered by the overhead and profit built into the insurance settlement itself.

Delaware coastal losses fail on cause of loss. The carrier’s recurring position after a storm is that damage came from tidal surge and rising water — excluded without separate flood coverage — rather than from covered wind, and low elevation makes that argument easy to assert and important to rebut. Wind-driven rain intrusion is under-scoped on first inspection, and roof and siding claims are frequently reduced to spot repairs.

Many Delaware coastal policies carry named-storm or windstorm percentage deductibles, and surge and tidal flooding typically sit in a separate flood policy rather than the homeowners form. Sewer and drain backup often requires its own endorsement in low-lying areas, and whether the policy pays actual cash value or replacement cost matters on beach-area frame construction — so identifying the governing provisions before filing shapes the claim.

Delaware’s coastal housing — elevated frame beach homes, older cottages near grade, and bayfront properties — produces loss patterns first-pass adjusters under-scope, particularly water forced into wall cavities by wind, moisture in crawlspaces and lower levels, and the layered wind-and-water damage a fast catastrophe inspection tends to flatten.

Delaware’s low-lying coast makes storm surge and wind-driven rain a recurring source of property claims — and of disagreements over what the policy actually covers.