Where do you buy a 20 year old roof, to replace the one you lost?
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Insurance claim....
Loading thread data ...
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
"Existential Angst" wrote
What does you policy say about repairs? Do they help with the contractor? Have you asked your agent? If that is not the final settlement you can easily go back for more or tell the insurance company to "make you whole", a term that says they will put you back to wherey ou were before the damage.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
"Existential Angst" wrote
I should have mentioned, you can also hire (at your expense) your own independent adjuster. Some will just take a percentage of your settlement, others will bargain for and get you a much better deal and easily cover their take on the deal.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
That's right!! That's the phrase he used!
He was explicit, however, that he was in the regular employ of that insurance company, that his group IS this catastrophe team they send around. And he did grumble about a couple of things, but seemed more thorough than cheap -- three hours worth of thorough!!
Hopefully they'll be some "room", $-wise.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Now THIS was an eyebrow raiser! I'll definitely look into this.
I'm wondering if a contractor himself can do a similar function -- at least for his given trade, such as roof, visavis interior damage.
I'll see what one roofer, who I really like, thinks. If he thinks the insurance guy was in the ballpark, I'll forego any squabbling, but if he thinks it is low, I'll weigh his effectiveness vs that of an independent adjuster.
But it's a great option!
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Always happy to help. The State Farm guy had no problem with the indep. adjuster. Agreed with everything he pointed out. I held the check for a while, until I was happy. Good luck. Chuck
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Don't do anything with the check until you have other estimates.
This a game the B***** play. Cash the check and you are done.
Colbyt
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
I'd get the bids from a couple of people (you'll probably have to do that anyway) and see what they look like. If close, I'd go back to the first guy and ask him about it. If not close, I'd go back to the first guy and ask him about and only go for the public adjuster if your insurance adjuster blows you off. Any other seems like too much work. Especially since if the bids are close you know the adjuster was good.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
The top posting stormin moron...They take the cost of the new roof , AC unit or whatever and divide it by the life expectancy of it...Try looking up pro rating...Idiot...
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
I wonder if different states have different regulations? In Texas (I think) the state pretty much tells the insurance company what they can and cannot do. When I purchased my homeowners ins I wasn't aware of an option and I deliberately purchased the cheapest I could find. They just replaced my roof outright and applied a $1800 deductible. Ouch!
Jim
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
I just went through a couple automobile insurence claims re: car accidents by my hell-on-wheels daughter.
I learned that the "settlement" is just an "offer", and can be refused or accepted or negotiated like any other "sale", at least in re: to a totalled car. The offer was generous and I jumped on it.
The insurence company paid the claim for the other accident (~$5k estimate, $7.5k out the door) without question (I used a preferred shop).
I don't know how it works with homeowner's insurence..... yet.
-Zz
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Depends on the company. I had Amica 23 years ago and they all but accused me of damaging my own house to cause water damage (the upstairs toilet tank cracked). Okaaay, since I was away at the time, and the only room damaged was my gorgeous kitchen (I'd only bought the house 2 years before) why would I do it? The kitchen I have now is fine, but it's not as nice as the one I had before the damage, because I just took the money they gave me. I couldn't afford to put in the same top-of-the-line fixtures that were there when I bought the house. Amica told me, "You don't need to replace the drywall, just spray anti-microbial on it and paint over it." Umm, ok, half the drywall on the ceiling had dissolved and was on the floor, and the what was left on the ceiling was black with mold. Yeah, I'm going to just cover that over with paint. Uh huh. At least I insisted on having the obvious damage repaired properly.
I switched to Allstate after the "great kitchen flood" and 2 years ago, when a heating pipe burst in the wall they were great. They not only had people out to dry out the house and rip out the soaked floors and drywall, they didn't consider the claim "settled" until I had submitted the final bill from my contractor. It didn't seem like much in the beginning, but the electrical box had to be replaced because it was directly underneath the leak, and the leak wasn't discovered for probably 2 days. It took that long for water to appear in the front hall and by then it was "raining" all over the basement. All I had to do was fax over the electrical estimate and I had a check in 3 days.
Of course, between my car and my house I've had insurance for 35 years and only filed the two claims for the house.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Slate roof = BIG MONEY to repair because of the color (can be difficult to match slate depending on where it was quarried) and difficulty of working with it. Water damage under it is also not good because of the weight of the slate.
I would say get two-3 contractors in who DO slate roofs and see what they come up with for prices.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
They do. In Indiana (anyway) you can get either replacement value (for more premium) or you can get the prorated kind.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Hmm, My insurance policy contains a current value replacement clause. When my two sun rooms got clobbered by hail storm They paid out full cost of repairs. (contractor waived deductible for me)
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Hmm, Allstate was the WORST I ever dealt with. Yhey treat their customer in need of coverage like a criminal. In my will, I told my kids not to deal with Allstate EVER!, LOL. T
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
"Existential Angst" wrote
Cashing the check must be done before it expires. Check to see if there is an expiration. If there is, and you do not cash it before that, you may find you can't get the money back.
In my area, they do not give an adjustment without several estimates first from contractors. This may be 'state law' related. Oh they had a figure for general use but it had variation. They were very happy for example that we had a buddy who did windows cheaper as they were about to cut a check for
1500$ but ended up with 507$. I got a 'for a friend' rate.Normally you can go back in a case like that for added adjustment.
Yes if it saves them money, and they have to answer basic questions on company policy. For example, my area and company require at least 3 estimates of which 1 must be from their list of local ontractors. *They* pick the price from that set usually going with the lowest bidder. Payment is after the work is complete (at least in my one case, not sure on that for all cases).
My case of dealing with them was both good and bad. I use State Farm. I had horrendous damage from renters. Easily $50,000 plus if all contracted and $25,000 of it was beyond our DIY level. The company worked with me hard to make it meet the rules to get us $507 as the rest was just impossible with my contract. Damages have to be filed for in a reasonable time and you have to tie them to an event. With us living in Japan, they picked out a wind storm and pretended the 2 windows were damaged by it. Clearly impossible as one was broken from the *inside* and the outer pane was fine and the picture window that was propped in place with a 4x4 clearly showed it also was busted out from the inside of the house.
The difference is you have a claimable storm and are able to make the claim.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Interesting. My experience with Allstate was great, and it was Amica who treated me like a criminal.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
That may be the case some of the time. I know that with one insurance company I had the auto adjusters were rated on what they paid out per claim. A lower payout was to their advantage.
YMMV...
Gordon Shumway
Our Constitution needs to be used less as a shield for the guilty and more as a sword for the victim.
- Vote on answer
- posted
14 years ago
Never had Allstate but the guy who fell asleep and plowed into my house wrecking my deck , yard and broken window did...The asshole who showed up to look at it offered 600 bucks..I told him to get off my property and they would hear from my lawyer...Several months later just before trial they settled for the middle bid (2500)of the 3 that I got which is all I wanted in the begining...It also cost them my lawyer costs but I was without front steps for several months...