It has been a long, exhausting year for many Long Islanders who are still battling with their insurance companies following Superstorm Sandy.

George Bein, of Babylon, says he has spent months battling his insurance company over the money he needs to rebuild. Bein had a $250,000 flood insurance policy, but so far, he has been paid less than one-third of that. Bein says his insurer claimed that his foundation was technically damaged by moving earth and not by the floodwaters themselves.

Bein is one of many homeowners who got caught by the fine print in their insurance contracts after Sandy.

Gerry Compitello, who works for the Town of Babylon, says she has been on the phone nonstop helping homeowners deal with their insurers since Sandy hit. There are 600 unresolved cases in Babylon alone. Compitello has advised many of those homeowners to file supplemental claims with their insurance companies. The deadline for doing that has now been extended to next April.

Compitello says homeowners should read their contracts, ask questions and make changes ahead of the next storm.