by Guest » Thu Jul 14, 2011 07:02 pm
Our house was damaged in a tornado this spring. We had a large tree smash one side. The insurer sent out an adjustor who said he believe the damages would exceed our cap. He requested his supervisor come take a look and call out a structural engineer. The boss signed off on the engineer.
The engineer came out, walked around, used no tools, and only spent about 30 minutes on site. His report reflected his flippant attitude towards the job, failed to address several points (one being a major structural characteristic of our historic home), and doesn't come close to the real scope of the damage. The original adjustor was forced to base his claim on that report and we were issued a check for about 35% of our cap.
We explained we didn't feel this was accurate and barely covered a third of our contractor's bid. Since, we have had 4 more adjustors come through the place, 3 of which all believe the damages exceed our cap and one that refused to say either way. However once the claims are sent in for approval, they are shot down by the paper pushers because they are at odds with the original engineers report.
We are now 3 months in and have yet to see a claim amount that comes close to what our contractor believes will actually take to repair our home. The insurance company refuses to accept the report is flawed and we are at our wits end. We don't want to use a public adjustor, but we are naive to what our rights are. We are waiting on yet another adjustor's numbers at the moment, but have no illusions about how it will turn out. He will submit his claim, which will exceed our cap by 100k or more, the paper pushers will deny it and send out his supervisor, his supervisor will support his claim so they will send out another adjustor.
We keep hearing, "You can submit supplements for that", but honestly there are problems with that. First being supplements are not intended to be the bulk of the claim, which they would be in this case. Second, if we exceed our cap (which appears likely) we are out of pocket which isn't feasible. The house is only worth 150k, putting 270k into repairs might make it right again, but doesn't make financial sense.
What should we do? Hire our own engineer (which they have agreed to "look at" but will be out of our pocket & no promises)? Report them to our state's insurance commission? Threaten to sue? Demand arbitration? We never thought we'd be here in 3 months, we can't sleep, live like gypsies, my work is suffering, and can't kick this cold I've had for three weeks. Anyone been here or could at least suggest what they might do?
The engineer came out, walked around, used no tools, and only spent about 30 minutes on site. His report reflected his flippant attitude towards the job, failed to address several points (one being a major structural characteristic of our historic home), and doesn't come close to the real scope of the damage. The original adjustor was forced to base his claim on that report and we were issued a check for about 35% of our cap.
We explained we didn't feel this was accurate and barely covered a third of our contractor's bid. Since, we have had 4 more adjustors come through the place, 3 of which all believe the damages exceed our cap and one that refused to say either way. However once the claims are sent in for approval, they are shot down by the paper pushers because they are at odds with the original engineers report.
We are now 3 months in and have yet to see a claim amount that comes close to what our contractor believes will actually take to repair our home. The insurance company refuses to accept the report is flawed and we are at our wits end. We don't want to use a public adjustor, but we are naive to what our rights are. We are waiting on yet another adjustor's numbers at the moment, but have no illusions about how it will turn out. He will submit his claim, which will exceed our cap by 100k or more, the paper pushers will deny it and send out his supervisor, his supervisor will support his claim so they will send out another adjustor.
We keep hearing, "You can submit supplements for that", but honestly there are problems with that. First being supplements are not intended to be the bulk of the claim, which they would be in this case. Second, if we exceed our cap (which appears likely) we are out of pocket which isn't feasible. The house is only worth 150k, putting 270k into repairs might make it right again, but doesn't make financial sense.
What should we do? Hire our own engineer (which they have agreed to "look at" but will be out of our pocket & no promises)? Report them to our state's insurance commission? Threaten to sue? Demand arbitration? We never thought we'd be here in 3 months, we can't sleep, live like gypsies, my work is suffering, and can't kick this cold I've had for three weeks. Anyone been here or could at least suggest what they might do?
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 06:29 pm Post Subject:
Well this is how insurance adjusters work. It is their job to work in favor of the insurance companies. But why are you not willing to hire a public adjuster?
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