Insurance Companies Cutting Back Claims?
BilljustBill
| Posted in General Discussion on
I talked with a friend living in Midland, Tx. Several weeks ago they went through a hailstorm. Now comes time for insurance and claims….
ALL homes near them have gotten settlements for new roofs. State Farm sent the local adjuster and another, out of state adjuster. Both came to the same conclusion, the owners need a new roof…. Then a state adjuster for the company, based in Houston, Tx, came up and viewed the roof. He declined the claim and offered $1,500 for the damage….
Are you seeing this trend?
Bill
Replies
might be.
my wife volunteers as her church's treasure.
they had to get their boiler fixed.
had the company that installed it and maintains it come out and look.
the owner called their insurance company ... sent them all the info they needed.
got a verbal OK ... the insurance company called my wife also and told her to go ahead with the repairs.
They did ... church paid HVAC company ... and waited for their reimbursement.
The wife just got a call that their claim was denied.
Haven't found out why yet. HVAC guy said they may have used the wrong verbage to describe the problem, and he'd call to see what the issues are. He's still 100% positive it will be covered.
My guess was it's their first attempt to stall.
Bet it gets paid ... someday. But not until enough calls are made and letters sent.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I do mostly water and fire restoration sub workWe are seeing the amount totals the insurance company pays dropping for the repairs
You can't trust very many people these days. The country is going to pot.
Insurance companies like AIG.
Will Rogers
My friends in Galveston TX had a small storm blow through last fall. They have not received a single claim check yet. A pecan tree (4' diameter) fell on their garage and the adjuster offered $1000. The whole building was smashed. They have a 45sq roof of asbestos slate tile. They were offered $500.
What a farce.
I guess this should serve as a lesson. Take the time to read your policy. Ask your broker questions. I have, and I was glad I did. I still have never made a claim, I guess that is why they are glad to talk to me. On the other hand, I am supposed to meet the head of the company to go look at a house that has suffered a HUGE fire to work on an estimate this weekend. We'll keep this in mind that the insurance company may offer us 250 bucks to fix the whole house.
I meditate, I burn candles, I drink green tea, and still I want to smack someone.
Sounds like your friend needs to write to your state's Division Of Insurance. They (DOI) should have info concerning this on their website.
Give all pertinent info including photos and describe what transpired concerning the various insurance people involved.
Had to do this last year for a client with a roof damage claim. Result - A call from her insurance company ten days after mailing, a check for 50% more money ($5,000) and a written promise to pay any extra/unknown costs incurred thru discovery when the roof was opened up.
Her local insurance agent and adjuster were NOT happy. Who cares? They/he tried to stiff her and got caught.
Edited 5/22/2009 12:49 pm ET by HootOwl
Good infor there HootOwl. What state are you in?
IL
The outrageous part of the story is that this lady (widowed with four kids) has had all of her insurance (house, cars, etc) with this company for 17 years (Country Companies). Rarely placed a claim. And.......her departed husband was a close friend of the agent since highschool. They were best buds.........while he was alive.
Me thinks all of these insurance companies invested way too much money in "derivatives"....aka.....CDSs, CDOs, et all. When they collapsed ( big surprise, eh?).....said companies will do anything to recover their losses......including stickin' it to their long-term policy holders. Send your premium for 17 years but when it's their turn to make good...........it's dog eat dog. I have zero sympathy/tolerance for this approach. Hence the complaint to the DOI concerning her insurance company and her claim.
She got three other estimates for repair besides mine and no one would touch it with a 10' pole for less than $15,000 .....and open-ended to discovery at that (same as mine). Her insurance company offered and sent her a check for $10,000. BS. And so I wrote the DOI on her behalf.
Edited 5/22/2009 11:37 pm ET by HootOwl
My Homeowners dropped me a 2 years ago because I live to near the ocean. Agent found us a new one, but we had to switch our viehicles to them and a $40,000.00 deductable for wind damage. OUCH!!!
"Shawdow boxing the appoclipse and wandering the land"
Wier/Barlow
Interesting trend. I did some insurance work 4 or 5 years ago, the claims were pretty ridiculous, but paid out anyway. One kitchen I redid was due to water damage from a leaky p-trap that hubby had tried to fix with duct tape, and then putty. They got all new cabs, countertops and floor, popped for new stove and sink themselves; took advantage of that R&R clause to save on labor.
The whole thing was BS and they basically stole a new kitchen because the adjustor said OK to a claim I would have refused. They saved a $200 plumbing service call, and a couple of years later got a $13,000 kitchen upgrade. Plus they acted as if this was their dream kitchen that they had saved for years to achieve. Which I found charming.
I wouldn't be surprised if all the P&C companies have their adjustors on a very tight leash now, the pendulum swings, and legit claims are having hassles. As the economy gets worse while we all experience the audacity of hope, fewer people will invest in routine maintenance, resulting in more preventable damage claims, which will be refused by insurers. Read the fine print, it says things like, 'properly maintained', 'adequately maintained or serviced', by 'competent, i.e. licensed '.
Oh, it's gonna be fun.
Had allstate decline replacing a garage door header that was destroyed by carpenter ants.
on the other hand... had a siding job for a gent who had tar splashed on a couple vinyl clapboards when his drive was refinished. Got the entire house resided.
the common denominator in the questionable insurance jobs I see is a very persistent client. Can be fine to work for but awful to deal w/ if they get an opposing view.
I can see the siding being replaced-----
but carpenter ants in a header?????----- an insurance claim wouldn't spring to mind--
I don't know--- but are carpenter ants and termites commonly covered in homeowners insurance???
stephen
Siding job should have belonged to the asphalt man's liability insurance, not homeowners. I don't see how critters would be covered.
might be right. I figured the ants were in because the water was getting in. Didn't find a problem w/ the siding install either so thought it might get covered. They destroyed half the header. It ended up being simple to remove the siding and replace it from the exterior. I just thought that insurance would at least look at it. I've seen crazier things that they've done.The ashpalt....yeah. There's a lot more to that story but that was the gist. I was just a temp sub on that one anyway. Part of the differences I've seen in several years of subbing insurance claims is the difference between companies. Some adjusters are great and some are nearly impossible to deal w/. The clients who always do the best though are the obstinate, ornery, willing to persist in complaining to their company ones.