A South Carolina couple is suing flood carrier Selective and broker World Insurance Associates, alleging a building-classification mix-up gutted their Hurricane Helene payout.
David and Georgie Simmons filed the complaint on May 12, 2026 in federal court in Greenville. They want the full contents limit, additional building coverage, and actual and punitive damages. The whole case turns on what kind of building they actually live in - and whether they ever had the flood coverage they paid for.
The Simmonses' three-story home in Taylors, S.C., was built in 1985 on a concrete slab-on-grade foundation. Steel frame walls run the full footprint of the ground-level floor, which has a door and a window. According to the complaint, there are no posts around the perimeter and no airspace between the ground floor and the second story. The home is in a FEMA-designated flood zone, and the couple's mortgage required flood coverage on the structure.
From October 2018 through October 2021, the complaint says, the couple carried Standard Flood Insurance Policies through Auto-Owners Insurance Company, arranged by Palmetto Insurance Associates. Each declarations page described the home as "Non-Elevated."
World Insurance later merged with the Walker Agency, which owned and/or operated Palmetto, and sent David Simmons a letter dated March 1, 2021 announcing the change. On World Insurance's advice, the couple switched their flood policy to Selective for the 2021-2022 term.
That is when the description of the home started to change, according to the filing. The Simmonses' 2021-2022 Declarations Page was lost in the flood, but they believe the property description was changed from "Non-Elevated" for that term.
The 2022-2023 Selective policy described the home as "BASEMENT (NON-ELEVATED, 3 FLOOR(S), FRAME CONSTRUCTION." The 2023-2024 renewal called it "ELEVATED WITH ENCLOSURE NOT ON POSTS, PILES OR PIERS (SOLID FOUNDATION WALLS), 3 FLOOR(S) FRAME." The complaint says neither Selective nor World Insurance inspected the property or flagged the coverage limits tied to those new labels.
Every policy carried $250,000 in Building Coverage and $100,000 in Contents Coverage - the highest contents limit available. The Simmonses say they took the top contents limit on purpose, to protect personal items on the ground-level floor where flood water hits first. The 2023-2024 premium was $2,587 for Building Coverage and $1,643 for Contents Coverage.
Hurricane Helene struck on September 26, 2024. Water flooded the ground-level floor. David Simmons reported the claim on October 3, 2024.
The Simmonses say they documented over $70,000 in damage to the house and over $100,000 in damage to personal property. The complaint says the Flood Claims Adjuster would only accept a Proof of Loss he prepared himself, showing $38,997.39 in building damage and $2,408.91 in contents damage.
According to the filing, the adjuster said he had "compared photographs" of their home with images of other properties not referenced in the policy and decided their home "resembled" houses he treated as "Elevated with Enclosure Not On Posts, Piles, or Piers." The complaint also says the adjuster acknowledged the home shared characteristics with "Non-Elevated" houses, including the slab-on-grade foundation.
The couple signed the Proof of Loss because they believed refusing would void the claim, the complaint says. David Simmons noted in writing at the time that he disagreed with both the classification and the loss figures.
About seven months later, on May 15, 2025, Selective sent a denial letter. According to the complaint, the letter stated that David Simmons had tried to "manipulate" contents coverage - even though, the filing says, Selective's own agent prepared the Proof of Loss. The letter reclassified the ground-level floor as a "Basement" because, in its words, the floor was "below the ground on all four sides," and stated that covered damages totaled $40,216.96.
The Policy defines "Basement" as "[a]ny area of a building, including any sunken room or sunken portion of a room, having its floor below ground level on all sides." It defines "Elevated Building" as "[a] building that has no basement and that has its lowest elevated floor raised above ground level by foundation walls, shear walls, posts, piers, pilings, or columns." The Simmonses argue the ground-level door and window show the floor is not below ground on all sides, and that the Policy leaves "Non-Elevated Building" undefined and therefore ambiguous.
The couple filed a FEMA appeal on July 11, 2025. FEMA acknowledged receipt the same day and was expected to respond within 90 days. The complaint says FEMA had not responded as of the filing date.
Meanwhile, Selective issued a renewal for 2024-2025 listing the property as "(BASEMENT NON-ELEVATED), 3 FLOOR(S), FRAME CONSTRUCTION." World Insurance still recommended the maximum $100,000 in elective contents coverage, the filing says, even though "virtually none" of that coverage would apply to the ground-level floor on Selective's reading.
The Simmonses bring six causes of action: breach of contract against Selective; and negligence, fraud and misrepresentation, South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act violations, quantum meruit, and negligent misrepresentation against World Insurance. They are seeking the $100,000 contents limit, additional building coverage, punitive and treble damages, and attorneys' fees.
The allegations have not been tested in court. Neither Selective nor World Insurance has filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
