Irene Storm Damage Led Insurers To Apply Prohibited Deductible Charges

Hurricane Irene caught schoolteacher Judi Nowottnick by surprise. Although there was no hurricane warning for her neighborhood, the power blinked off at her two-story colonial in Odenton on Aug. 27 and didn’t come back for eight long days. Four dozen crabs and $1,000 of other food in her two refrigerators spoiled, and Nowottnick spent an additional $400 on fast food for her two adult children living at home. But a bigger surprise arrived when she submitted the bill to her insurance company, with which she had taken out a deluxe policy to cover such losses.