TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Town N’ Country couple’s living room will be covered by flood insurance after all, following a call to Better Call Behnken to expose their unusual problem.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, Jaime Giangrande-Holcom and her husband were told by their insurance adjuster that their living room was a basement, because of a 3-1/2-inch step-down. Nothing in the so-called basement would be covered.
“It’s ridiculous,” Giangrande-Holcom said when she called Better Call Behnken for help in November.
“It’s ridiculous. To even come out and say the word basement in the state of Florida is comical. I grew up in New York, and I know what a basement looks like. I lived in basements. This is not a basement.”
The couple has a policy through the National Flood Insurance Program, administered by FEMA. At first, FEMA stood by the decision. But NewsNation affiliate WFLA’s story pointed out that the entrance to the house goes up 4 1/2 inches before the step-down, meaning the living room is not below grade level.
As a result, adjusters came back to measure.
“We found out yesterday we don’t have a basement,” Giangrande-Holcom said. “I called Mom, and then I called you. I was like ‘Shannon, we don’t have a basement.’
“So I’m so glad that we could provide this answer too and a little bit of knowledge because, like I said before, it’s not just me. I am one of many people who have a little step down in their house.”
The new measurements showed the basement is actually above grade and not below ground, so now, the living room and everything in it will be covered by the insurance policy.
“If it was not for you and if it was not for our story, I don’t think we would have gotten as much traction, and people to come back out,” she said.
“I am so grateful to you and to the station to tell our story because, like I said, it’s not just me and it is a story that a lot of us could benefit from so thank you so much and yes, Better Call Behnken.”
