Puerto Rico is still trying to recover from recent natural disasters, especially Hurricane Maria—which happened more than two years ago now. Unfortunately, Puerto Ricans are still waiting on about $1.6 billion in unpaid hurricane insurance claims that would have helped them rebuild according to FEMA.

Individuals have been offered checks from their insurers for significantly less than the damage, leaving them unable to repair the damages. One man, a former school technology specialist named Luis M. Rodriguez Rivera, told the New York Times that Hurricane Maria caused $92,000 of damage to his home, including cracked flooring and mold. MAPFRE Insurance gave him a $8,000 check, he said, and his lawyers told him not to cash it at all as they work through the litigation process.

“It’s like I’ve fallen into a trap,” Mr. Rodriguez told the Times. “You don’t know when you’re going to get what is owed to you to fix your house and live with dignity.”

It’s not just individual homes that need to rebuild—it’s also major facilities like hospitals, stadiums, sports facilities, and convention centers. But many of these places simply can’t rebuild, because their private insurers have still not paid their hurricane insurance claims.

The federal government has been criticized for its response to Hurricane Maria and the devastation it wrought in Puerto Rico.

But another contributing factor to the island’s continued struggles is that private insurers were both underfunded and under-regulated. After Hurricane Maria, two private insurers collapsed under the pressure and went out of business.

Many other insurers may not have gone out of business, but ended up offering clients mere pennies on the dollar. Another significant financial effect was that many of these companies subsequently hiked up their premiums by nearly double.

About $8.5 billion in insurance claims have been filed in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria. Of that amount, about $6.9 billion has been paid so far, with $1.6 billion still yet to be paid.

So far, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed. But litigation is ongoing, and this leaves many people with no compensation for their rebuilding efforts. Astralis, a condominium with 210 units near San Juan, had about $13 million in damages, according to José Alfredo Londoño, the president of the condominium association. But his insurance company, also MAPFRE Insurance, only offered $1 million—an offer Londoño referred to as “ridiculous.”

MAPFRE is also the insurer for the city of Aguadilla, which was also offered much lower compensation than the damages it has suffered.

After a natural disaster like Hurricane Maria, it can be difficult to recover and rebuild. Dealing with insurance is complicated and frustrating, especially while you’re just trying to put your life back together and restore your home or business, so consulting an attorney may be able to help you ensure that you are receiving the full compensation that you’re due.

Even if you’ve already been compensated for some of the damages by your insurance company—or even if you’ve already cashed the check—you may be owed further compensation.