I received my insurance settlement claims check from tornado damage but disagree with the insurance company.?
We had a tornado that caused damage to our home and our garage. We had an insurance claim adjuster out who determined that the damage to our home and garage needs to be repaired. The problem is that we live in an 1880′s home that has four gables that are covered with lead coated fish-scale cedar shakes. The damage was on two of the gables and also we had some damage to our mortar on our brick work. They also told us that we have to repair the cedar shakes. Which is very costly and if we do repair the 2 gables they will not match the rest of our home. (Style and paint color) Also we have discussed this with a couple of contractors who have explained to us that it isn’t as simple as repairing them. They will have to be removed and replaced with new due to the condition of the shakes and where the damage is on the gables. The contractor suggested vinyl on all four gables It is a very economical replacement but we will also need fascia and soffit. There is enough money to do this. The insurance company’s first check should be more than enough to cover the vinyl replacement and repair most other damage on our home. We can supplement with our own money if we run low during the home repairs. If we don’t do what they want us to do we may not get the depreciation value check that we need to make the repairs to our garage. At this point we don’t have extra funds to cover these repairs am so upset and confused. Can they cancel the claims if we don’t do what they want us to do? Do we as homeowners have rights to decide how we want our home repaired? Please respond as soon as possible. Thank You.
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2 comments
mbrcatz on July 2, 2010 at 2:16 am
You need to talk to your adjuster, and maybe have your contractor talk to your adjuster.
Obviously, you have to kick in your deductible, to pay for repairs. Not obviously, it matters a way, way, way lot, what COVERAGE you have on your policy. It’s quite possible that you don’t have "cost to replace with like kind & quality" on a house that old. It’s also quite possible that the adjuster doesn’t understand what must be done to fix the house.
Yes, if you don’t repair the damage, they can cancel your policy, but they can’t cancel the claim. Yes, you as homeowners get to decide how you want your home repaired – HOWEVER – you decided how the insurance PAYS for it, at the time you bought the policy. If you flat out don’t have "like kind and quality" coverage, and you want like kind and quality repairs, YOU have to pay the difference, out of pocket. It’s also quite possible you are underinsured, and a coinsurance penalty is applying.
It’s unclear, if your problem is a coverage issue, or a communication issue. But you DO need to have a three way talk – or maybe four way talk, including your agent, you, the contractor, and the adjuster – to figure out what the problem is. Communciation issues can be fixed. Coverage issues, you can’t fix for THIS claim, but you can fix it for the NEXT one.
www.myabi.com on July 2, 2010 at 2:16 am
Well they cannot cancel a claim. A claim is you stating "I am claiming that this should be covered underneath my Homeowners policy," the claim is not when they write the check. But of course they could deny your claim if you do not follow the conditions of your policy.
Yes you have the right to have your home repaired how you want to. Your insurer does not have to pay you except how the policy reads.