Be Careful to Avoid Post-Storm Scams

Unfortunately, disasters tend to bring out scammers. One scam has people pose as contractors and reach out after a hurricane with a promise to make repairs.

They might come door to door or call, and they will likely ask for some money upfront. Once they get cash or trick you into sharing personal details, they disappear without fixing a thing.

Make sure that any repair work is done by a legitimate contractor that you’ve researched and vetted.

In short, you should always maintain the rights to your own policies.

Scammers will also use emotional times to create fake charities or do phishing attempts while posing as real charities. If you’re moved to donate, make sure it’s a trusted organization. Go to the organization’s website directly or verify legitimacy using the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, Charity Watch, or Charity Navigator.

Scammers may also pretend to be from or working with financial institutions. They reach out to people using social media or email and pretend that they can get you approved for an emergency loan or similar type of relief.

Do not give out your personal information and never apply for a “loan” unless it is directly from your financial institution.

Contact Your Creditors if You’re Having Trouble with Payments

Sometimes during an emergency, you may end up dipping into your savings or maxing out your credit cards to cover your extra hurricane-related costs. If you are in a situation where your emergency costs are making it difficult to pay your bills, contact your creditors right away.

Don’t miss a loan, mortgage or credit card payment without speaking to your creditors first. If you skip a payment, you may be liable for the appropriate penalties. However, if you reach out to your creditors and explain the situation, you may be able to work together to come up with a solution.

Properly Endorse Insurance Checks

If you end up getting an insurance check for post-hurricane relief, make sure that you properly endorse it before you deposit it.

These checks sometimes have more than one name on them, so it is crucial for all parties to endorse the check. If not, the check could be returned and the funds could be removed from your account until the proper endorsements are made.

You may have a check that is made out to you and your financial institution or mortgage company. If this is the case, your financial institution or mortgage company would have to endorse the check, as well.

You can bring the check to your financial institution to get an endorsement. Contact your mortgage company directly to learn the best way to get their endorsement.

When the financial institution or mortgage company signs off on the check, they are acknowledging the item will be deposited to the account holder. At that time, it would be the responsibility of the account holder to assure they have the repairs completed with the insurance funds.

Going through a hurricane is hard enough, so make it easy for your financial institution to get your insurance check into your account as soon as possible by having all parties properly endorse the check before deposit.