Louisiana Insurance Lawyer Blog

The House of Representatives approved a Senate bill to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for one year. The NFIP was to expire on September 30, 2010. The NFIP new expiration date will be September 30, 2011. The extension still requires the president's signature.

If you don't have flood insurance already, you should consider purchasing it especially considering the potential treat of Tropical Storm Matthew and other Storms to the Gulf Coast. All it takes is a few inches of water to cause major damage to your home and its contents.

Try the interactive tool below to estimate what a flood to your home could cost, inch by inch.

http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/flash/costofflooding/CostOfFlooding.swf

Addresses and telephone numbers for the Social Security Disability Insurance Offices in the New Orleans Area are:

Social Secuirty Office New Orleans
Ste 1600, 1515 Poydras St
New Orleans, LA 70112-1279
(800) 772-1213

Social Security Office Gretna/Terrytown
115 Terry Parkway
Gretna, LA 70056-2522
(866) 563-4597

Social Security Office Kenner
1616 Joe Yenni Blvd
Kenner, LA 70065-1355
(504) 468-8120

Social Security Office Houma
423 Lafayette St # 206,
Houma, LA 70360-4806
(985) 872-1417

Social Security Office Hammond
2100 Robin Avenue
Hammond, LA 70403-5749 map
Phone:(985) 542-6892

Social Security Office Baton Rouge
5455 Bankers Avenue,
Baton Rouge, LA 70808-2606
(866) 613-3070

Social Security Disability Insurance pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you are "insured," meaning that you worked long enough and paid Social Security taxes.

The disabled claimant must be unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment. The disability must have lasted or be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months, or be expected to result in death.

The physical or mental impairment must be established by objective findings by a medical provider and subjective complaints by the claimant.

If you qualify for SSDI, actual disability payments cannot be made until five months after the date of the onset of disability. Health insurance is available through Medicare starting 24 months the after the initial five-month waiting period. There are a few exceptions to the two-year rule.

Insurers generally consider a motor vehicle to be a total loss when the estimated cost of repair (including any supplements) plus the probable salvage value equals or exceeds the actual cash value of the vehicle. LSA-RS. 32:702 requires all vehicles sustaining damages equivalent to 75% or more of the market value as determined by the most current National Automobile Dealers Association Handbook (NADA) to be declared a total loss subject to salvage titling requirements.

However, LSA-RS. 22:676 allows an insurer to consider whether a vehicle would be a total loss if the cost to repair or replace the airbags system is excluded from the total loss determination. This will make it possible for an insurer, if the insured agrees, to pay more than 75% of the NADA book value to repair a vehicle without declaring it a total loss, subject to salvage titling, as long as the cost to repair or replace the airbag system makes the total damage exceed 75% of the
NADA market value.