A Jersey City man is currently the only named plaintiff in a class action lawsuit that unites Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Irene victims and seeks a broader definition of the term ?basement.?

Nine local and national insurance companies, including Fidelity, Travelers, and State Farm, are named in the lawsuit that was filed Thursday in the Federal District Court of New Jersey by Union City-based attorney Jeffrey Bronster.

?This is dealing with the issue of whether or not ground-floor units have been properly classified as a basement,? Bronster said.

The insurance companies named in the suit participate in the federal Write Your Own program, which allows insurance companies to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to write the Standard Flood Insurance ?0?Policy (SFIP) in their own names.

The suit contains subclasses specifically focused on Jersey City and Hoboken property and business owners.

The only plaintiff currently listed by name is Jersey City resident Patrick Donnelly, who owns a house on Grove Street.

According to the complaint, Donnelly had flood insurance with the New Jersey Re-Insurance Co. and had a claim denied after Hurricane Irene because his ground floor was identified as a basement.

Donnelly?s first floor ?is not elevated, but it is not a basement either,? said Bronster. ?It gets very technical.?

New Jersey Re-Insurance Co. officials did not return phone calls to comment. The SFIP defines a basement as ?any area of the building, including any sunken room or sunken portion of a room, having its floor below ground level (subgrade) on all sides.? The SFIP offers limited coverage for damages in basements, the complaint says.

Bronster says he had no problem with the SFIP definition of a basement but that the insurance companies are misapplying the classification.

?Unfortunately, the homeowners aren?t even aware that they may have a cause of action,? said Bronster. ?Because you get adjusters that come out from the insurance companies and tell them it?s not covered because it?s a basement. They have a limited understanding at best at what a basement is or isn?t under their policy.?

Donnelly and the other plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages and pre-judgment interest.

I wish this guy luck...JJ