by sross0305 » Sat Apr 25, 2009 02:27 am
Don’t know where to turn. Our home had extensive damage due to hurricane Ike. We hired a contractor. The contractor in turn hired a subcontractor to do some of the work. We were out of the home for 7 weeks. When we came back we found items missing, furniture damaged, items broken, work was not finished, rooms were left with primer on the ceiling, door knobs missing, broken window the list goes on and on. The contractor had a family emergency and was not able to supervise the subcontractor. Our contractor had given us a certificate of liability insurance with the following limits Each Occurrence $1,000.000… Damage to Rented Premises $100,000… Med Exp $5,000…Personal & Adv Injury$1,000,000 General Aggregate $2,000,000 and Products, COMP/OP AGG $2,000,000. The insurance agent has told us that the adjuster will decide what items are covered. He stated that the work which was left unfinished would probably not be covered unless we can tie it to neglect. What are your thoughts?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:21 pm Post Subject:
Hi sross0305,
The contractor had a family emergency and was not able to supervise the subcontractor.
Did the contractor inform you that he'd be leaving due to his family emergency?
If not, then I think he'd certainly need to own up that it's due to his negligence. He always had the option of stopping the repair work prior to his leaving your place. He shouldn't have engaged a semi-skilled subcontractor. Steven
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 01:00 pm Post Subject:
Not a very good contractor, huh. First, it seems like the subs he hired were the worst... probably the cheapest. Second, it seems like he was probably not even there.
The contractors general liability policy does not cover work or work product. This is why the carrier is telling you that it won't address the actual work being done, only the resulting damage. What you need to do is not pay the contractor for the work that was not performed correctly. I'd also _strongly_ recommend you don't have him correct this work as its obvious that he lacks this capability. You then take the money, hire a _good_ contractor and have the work done correctly. Of course you should pay the contractor for work that was done correctly. You may have to work out what is owed with the contractor.
The contractor should be at the job site every day to make sure the subs are doing things correctly... this _is_ his job. But also you should really pay frequent visits to the home as well to make sure the contractor and subs are doing things correctly. Don't tell them when you are going to show up.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 01:57 pm Post Subject:
Would this Products, COMP/OP AGG $2,000,000 cover half painted ceilings, drawers that were painted shut, etc.. Also, since the contractor was not here to supervise the subs work, wouldn't that be considered negligence on the contractors part thus anything the sub did would be covered due to the contractors negligence?
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 02:24 pm Post Subject:
Products/Completed Ops addresses damages _as a result_ of completed operations of the insured. It still only addresses the _resulting_ damage.
Drawers painted shut should be covered... just not for the painting of the drawers themselves. That is, the "work" was the painting. The resulting damage is that they will not operate as a result of the poor work. Half painting ceilings won't be covered. What you do in this case is either don't pay for this work (as it was not done or not done correctly), pay for the work that was done if the part that was done does not need to be redone, or pay for what was done even though you will need to pay to have the entire ceiling repainted as a way to settle this matter. Personally, I'd start by telling the contractor you are not going to pay for the ceiling and see what he says. You certainly want to avoid him suing you (you'd probably win) as this can end up costing you time and money. If you still trust the contractor and he won't walk away w/o payment for something, you could take a chance and have him complete the work.
It's a tricky situation. The contractor really dropped the ball and/or is an idiot (I doubt he is a fraud as he has liability insurance). He spent time on the job and might even need to pay some of the subs. Should he be left loosing money _and_ doing some work? Perhaps. But he may not see it like this. So if there were some things done and done correctly perhaps you might pay him for that work.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 02:55 pm Post Subject:
The bad thing is we paid the contractor over $50,000 which came from our insurance company due to hurricane Ike for the work. We did hold out $5,000 until we are sure his insurance is going to cover the damage. The contractor received overhead and profit from our insurance company which was 20% more because they provided more than one service. However half was held back in depreciation. We have had another contractor out and it's going to cost us more to fix the shotty work than what our insurance company originally paid us.
In adjuster terms what is negligence. Maybe if I knew that I could tie some of the damage to negligence.
We just want to get our house back as soon as possible. Our contractor is going to sue the sub but who knows how many years that will take.
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 03:14 pm Post Subject:
What would be covered is the _resulting_ damage, not the actual work done or done incorrectly.
Yes, contractors should not be paid all/most up front. You probably will need to sit down with the contract and see about him making it right. Again, be at the house every/most every day to monitor the work.
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:54 am Post Subject:
Does the OP stand the chance to sue the contractor for negligence and demand back the money that he has paid to him?
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 01:25 pm Post Subject:
Does the OP stand the chance to sue the contractor for negligence and demand back the money that he has paid to him?
That would be one way to go.Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 02:11 pm Post Subject:
Hi sross0305,
I do empathize with you and feel your urgency to get back to your house.
We have had another contractor out and it's going to cost us more to fix the shotty work than what our insurance company originally paid us.
Did your new contractor give you a ball park of how much it could be worth?
Steven
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 07:30 pm Post Subject: earthquake in japan
How can i donate to help Japan?
I'm so sad by what happened in Japan with the earthquake plus tsunami and I really want to help them by donation.
Does any individual know a web site or anything where you can donate to assist Japan?
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