Posted on 09/03/2011 8:36:34 AM PDT by no gnu taxes
Ok, I guess the best adage is to be nice until that doesn't work.
But my agent keeps telling me, "don't worry, they'll pay." My policy language is very vague and open to a lot of interpretation. Without going into detail, I'm not getting the impression the adjuster will be that accomodating. You know, I'm 51 years old and have never had to file a homeowner's claim before
I sort of feel like the difference between my agent and and the adjuster is like the difference between a military recruiter and the drill sergeant.
Am I wrong?
A huge tree fell on my parent’s home last summer. Their basement also flooded. Triple whammy, my dad was dying from a brain tumor, so it was up to me to deal with all of the insurance nonsense.
When the adjuster arrives at your home, accompany them every step of the way. Have a notebook in hand. Write down everything they tell you, because later on it won’t be so easy to remember. I’m 51, as well, believe me when I say write it down.
The adjuster was a nice enough woman. She answered my many questions and presented us with a fair figure for the damage.
Then the wait began. The agent was not the best of help. We were dealing with the homeowner’s insurance for the tree and a separate flood policy for the basement.
Record the date and time and name of every person you speak with in dealing with the various parties. The homeowner’s check arrived about a month after the adjuster visit. Getting the check for the flooded basement was another matter. Numerous calls to the adjuster went unreturned. The agent was also unsuccessful in getting anywhere with them. I finally tracked down the owner of the adjustment company and raised holy heck. Two weeks later we received a check, almost two months after the incident.
Be your own advocate. Do not rely on your agent. Keep records of everything.
This was a massive tree and the removal of it was very expensive.
Adjusters have been fair to us so far.
I rcvd 25G’s for a 200 year old POS collapsed barn this winter and renewed in April with no rate increase
A good homeowners policy (an HO-3, for example) would cover a tree being blown down onto a house by wind, as it would be a covered peril, for both the damage to the house and the tree removal.
You said your policy was “ambiguous”: How so?
Purdy, real purdy!
You were very fortunate. Homeowners policies actually are dropped routinely here and elsewhere, merely due to having a paid claim, due to the actuarial considerations mentioned previuosly. Maybe your jurisdiction does not permit this practice. Mine does, as do quite a number of others.
All things considered, my insurance adjusters were very helpful after Katrina. They came out, assessed the damage and even pointed out some areas that I wasn’t aware of that were covered by my policy. They paid off promptly and we were able to get our place cleaned up quickly. However, the next year my rates tripled.
Wait ‘til you see what the claims adjuster’s estimate is before you get upset. Many of them are snarky and under stress right now and may not be as sympathetic as you would normally like.
Get the detailed estimate from the adjustor first. Then you’ll have a choice: you can either take it around to various contractors of your own choosing and let them cost it out as if they were going to be doing the work; take it to contractors who are recommended by your insurance carrier, or keep the money and do some or all of the work yourself. If you’re good with power tools you can even make money by choosing option #3.
In my own case a few years ago, I combined Options #2 and #3: I got a list of recommended contractors and talked to each of them separately. They made highly detailed estimates, showing exactly what materials would be used and what would be done in each room, for their proposed price. There was a difference, of course, between what the claims adjustor wanted to pay out and what the contractors said it would cost. They told me not to worry, the claims adjustor’s statement was a bargaining position and was not set in stone.
(They also told me that if I wanted to do upgrades in the house that were not due to our disaster, this would be a good occasion since the walls would be open and the trades would be on the job site already, and I did take advantage of that in some small ways.)
We talked a LOT about what I wanted done and what standards I wanted them to employ (for instance, did I want the ruined wood flooring just refinished, and keep the difference in cost? Or replaced with the same stuff? Or replaced and upgraded, with the difference in cost to come out of my pocket or out of the funds provided for other rooms?) Then they went to have fistfights with the insurance company. I stayed out of it.
I stressed a little, but everybody assured me it would be okay in the end, and it was: the house is better now than it was before the disaster and I’m really pleased with the insurance company (Nationwide), my agent, the contractor, and the adjustors.
One thing that may have made a difference about a positive outcome: I rode herd on the subs and supervised their work constantly (in a nice way). I knew what I wanted and made fast decisions that did not change.
Our experience with claims adjusters has been pretty good (hurricane damage, not related to flooding). Can’t speak for everyone in every situation or location, and we we’re rarely greedy and never grasping.
i was told if rates went up it was not due to my claim but due to the etire region being wacked
35 years working with insurance companies from the POV of the guy who fixes the damage.
Companies, regional offices and individual adjusters vary tremendously in how they will adjust a particular claim. Regardless of how the policy is worded there is a great deal of room for interpretation.
I’d like to recommend against your initially hiring a public adjuster. While fully ethical public adjusters may exist, I must say I never ran across one. Many have side deals for kickbacks from contractors who will “fix” your damage, seldom doing the job properly.
Adjustment of a claim can be handled on a “fair” rather than a legal adversarial basis. Once you hire a public adjuster the company will drop any attempt to “treat you fairly” and everything becomes adversarial.
My point is that you can always go to adversarial, but once you’ve gone there you can’t go back to “fair.”.
If you must go to adversarial, I agree with those who suggest retaining an attorney. I believe they generally provide better results than a public adjuster.
I also suggest independent itemized estimates for the damage.
When it comes to calculating the bottom line, big differences between estimates are more likely to be related to the number of line items than to the unit price. IOW, are they including the same things? However, direct comparison is extremely difficult, since estimates are arrived at using different methods.
Freepmail me if you have specific questions.
Interesting. I will remember this when and if I need it.
... So, a future rate increase was soft peddled to you, lol? You’ll be getting one, regardless of who else does. Risk pools tend to do that. Maybe not as much as it could have been standalone, since there are nonclaimants who will have their rates increased as well, but it will get paid for above and beyond.
Remember they are not your friends, be cordial, answer the questions posed but do add information. Make a list of damage and show them all damage. Be calm and do not get offended.
Remember they are not your friends, be cordial, answer the questions posed but do add information. Make a list of damage and show them all damage. Be calm and do not get offended.
at renewall I added umbrella and HO and car went down.........Hmmmmmmm
My goodness, maybe I should file a claim so my rates will drop. Can I live on your planet, lol?
All written communication of any significance to the insurance company or its agents should be via certified, return receipt mail.
First thing they think of is that you are laying the groundwork for legal action if it becomes necessary.
Ask for everything that is said to you verbally to be restated in writing. Paper trails make bureaucrats nervous.
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