House Fire insurance question

[mom2boys77]

Hi, on Friday night our hot water heater ignited starting a fire that completely destroyed our home. We have lost everything..literally ran out in our pajamas..it's still unbelievable that this happened. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with what to do with the insurance company. We've called them and they will be out tomorrow. But what will happen next? We have never experienced this and no one in my family has either. If anyone has ever had this happen to them I'd appreciate any advice..thank you. We have had several public adjustors show up at 6 a.m yesterday morning and we have no clue if these are good or should we stay away from them (i'm leaning towards staying away) thanks

[dbogen]

I believe (and I am no expert) that once you talk to an adjuster, your insurance co is done talking to you. I can't believe that your house burned on a friday and the insurance isn't sending anyone out until Monday. I have seen insurance agents on the scene of a fire before the fire trucks have left.

I am sorry for you loss and remember to be thankful that noone was hurt.

[mom2boys77]

they sent someone out yesterday to board up our house but said no one was available until Monday. Yes I'm trying to be grateful that we are alive.

[mom2boys77]

and it was friday around 8pm so maybe that's why

[golfgal]

So far everything you have been told her is incorrect (sorry people). First, the adjuster either works directly for the insurance company or is contracted by the company. In a total loss situation it isn't uncommon to send more than one adjuster out. You will be talking to the adjusters and the insurance company a LOT over the next year, program their numbers into your phone.

Depending on who you called (if you called your agent directly or the 800 number) that tells you how fast an adjuster will get there. If you called your agent directly and your agent was good, s/he would probably have gotten the claim going sooner and authorized you some immediate money. The agent can't do anything other than that until the adjuster gets there.

Your policy will cover what is called "loss of use". That means since you can't live in your home they will cover the extra expense of staying in a hotel or apartment until your home is repaired-this can include increases in food bills, mileage to/from work, etc. If you normally spend $500/month on food and now have to spend $600, they will reimburse you for the extra $100, for example. You still need to make your mortgage payment, just a heads up on that. You will need to go shopping for clothing, obviously, save ALL of your receipts and you will be reimbursed for what you buy. Keep in mind that if you are living in a $50,000 house and start buying $500 jeans, they can deny a claim like that as insurance fraud.

Now the HARD part, you will have to supply a detailed list of everything you lost and I mean detailed--like titles of books you lost-you can't just say I lost 100 books. Usually for clothing they will accept a reasonable amount of replacement clothing without having to line item, but not always. Don't buy too much before you talk to the company after the adjuster is done but if you buy a couple outfits each, and basic grooming supplies you will be fine. This is why it is a good idea to video tape your house and belongings and keep it in a safe-deposit box.

I am so sorry for your loss. Let me know if you have any other questions. Also, resolve yourself that this will be a long and tedious process.

[dbogen]

Golf Gal, I was talking about the kind of adjusters that just show up at the house uninvited by anyone. My friend had a house fire and the next day there were adjusters up the wazoo in front of the house when she got there.

It was my impression that you need to use the guys the insurance company sends to you, not the ones who just show up.

I'm sorry if I confused the OP, she really doesn't need anymore stress in her life right now.

Hugs to the OP

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by dbogen

Golf Gal, I was talking about the kind of adjusters that just show up at the house uninvited by anyone. My friend had a house fire and the next day there were adjusters up the wazoo in front of the house when she got there.

It was my impression that you need to use the guys the insurance company sends to you, not the ones who just show up.

I'm sorry if I confused the OP, she really doesn't need anymore stress in her life right now.

Hugs to the OP

Adjusters or CONTRACTORS???? We don't have adjusters that just show up around here but there are some contractors that are just as as bad as ambulance chasing attorneys.

[dbogen]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Adjusters or CONTRACTORS???? We don't have adjusters that just show up around here but there are some contractors that are just as as bad as ambulance chasing attorneys.

Thats the kind, only here they call themselves adjusters. Either way I think they are trouble waiting to happen.

[AKL_Megs]

OP, you are in my thoughts... a fire is my biggest fear. I pray that things move along quickly and easily for you.

[clovergirl5]

Op, Im so sorry that this happened to you. You and your family are in my thoughts. Also hoping this moves along quickly and you and your family can move on. Manycoming your way!

[GothTink]

Nothing to add, but thought you could use this

[cepmom]

my mom had a house fire last summer; caused by the old refirgerator in the basement. They lost quite a bit, but were able to rebuild the house.

She also had public adjusters out the wazoo that day and the days following. They are private companies that will try to get you to hire them to assess the damage to your house/possesions. They itemize everything for you to submit to your insurance. They will take a percentage of the total loss (5% is usual I think) My mother did end up using one for the possessions only inside the house. It is a daunting task to itemize every last thing that was destroyed. Seriously, this guy went through each drawer, closet in the house and wrote everything down, along with an estimate of the value. I mean everything that he could identify, even a deck of cards, pantyhose, old photos etc. You don't need to use them, but sometimes it can be worthwhile because it is such an overwhelming job to do.

Your insurance adjuster should be able to guide you in the right direction. I also think it's lousy that they haven't sent anyone yet. My mother's insurance adjuster was at the house before the firemen left. I have to run to work now, but if you have any questions, please ask. I know its awful that you lost everything, but it all can be replaced. Thank God you are all safe

[C.Ann]

I don't have any answers to your questions, but I did want to tell you how sorry I am for your loss..

Fire is my #1 fear!!

[Tink415]

I'm so sorry for your loss and glad that everyone is OK!

We had a fire with most everything destroyed over 20 years ago. Your insurance company adjuster should be guiding you. I think I took a week vacation from work and my company gave me another week to deal with the initial loss, find a place to live, inventory etc. The property has to be secured and inventory taken. The whole insurance process will take quite a long time. We eventually settled for a percentage of the contents loss rather than replacing each item and submitting receipts, I think this was 10-12 months after the fire. The percentage was negotigated. The insurance company adjuster offered 60% initially. Some of what had to be done was ridculous. All items, including burned clothing, had to be sent to cleaners. Cleaning had to be paid for, and anything that could be salvaged kept. I remember anything that had elastic might have looked good but disintegrated within a few months. We had a lot of white corning ware pieces that were black but they were able to be cleaned and we kept them. Itemizing everything was quite the job. A lot of things were just gone. And getting items cleaned I sent some things back to be cleaned again several times and eventually charged my labor to clean them myself (that white corning ware). Three different types of cleaning services were used and some stuff just disappeared. Also some items had no value depending on their age..I'm thinking it was 2 years for drapes, sheets, towels.. but I could be remembering that wrong.

Good luck and remember everyone is OK which is the most important thing.

[kilee]

I am sorry, I know how hard going through this is. Our house burned down in April 2008, and we lost almost everything. The only things that were saved were in the shed set pretty far from the house.

Anyhow, the insurance company did not come for 3 days. Even though they were notified first thing in the morning (the fire happened at about 9pm Sunday night and it was about 5 am before everything was all done).

First think about calling the Red Cross. They came at noon the next day and provided us w/ a voucher for Target and a local grocery store. It was meant to at least get us a few outfits each, shoe's, and personal care items. In the midst of all my crying and broken heart.....it was a gesture that still to this day meant so much. They also will help you get replacement prescription medications that you lost in the fire free of charge.

We too had to make a very itemized list of what we lost. For clothing and that they more wanted to know were our clothes for the whole family in the house, winter coats, and shoe's. They then had a set amount for a family of 3 they reimbursed for year round clothing. Same thing w/ simple things like bath towels, everyday use dishes, and food. We then had to get really detailed for all the larger items. We had to provide them w/ brands and approximate age of the item. This included things like furniture, TV's, computers, and appliances, gaming systems, ect.

A few things:
-Don't remove any debris or ANYTHING until the insurance company comes to look through everything.
-The insurance company sent someone to do an emergency board up of our house before they even came to look at it. That money came out of the insurance check in the end at a tune of almost $6000.00!!!


In our case the insurance company refused to consider the house a total loss, and instead stated it could be repaired. We got 3 independent estimates on this and the insurance company adjuster was 50% lower than anyone else. So in the end the reimbursed only half of what it cost to repair the home. Our personal belongings were reimbursed in full to the maximum of the policy. We did not have to replace the item and send in the receipts. In reality though, we only had $10,000 on our policy to cover our contents (I learned a big lesson about being properly insured). That doesn't even come close to covering year round clothing for a family of 3, beds, appliances, daily use items, computers, TV's, new beds, dressers, my sons's items (toys, video games), cameras, camcorders, living room furniture, tools (they were in the attached garage that burned too), tables, chairs, ect. It took about 30 days to get the check, but part of the delay was in us arguing the repair versus total loss.

In the end the house/property went to auction and between what it sold for and the insurance check the house was paid off. So there was no debt or negative credit reporting (yes I know the no negative credit reporting for a fact) on the house or us.

DH, DS, and our dogs moved in w/ my mom immediately after the fire. We stayed there about 6 weeks and then moved in w/ MIL for 8 days to be exact. At that point we found single family home to rent (we're still in). It's been hard, we still have not replaced everything and it's 18 months later. So we did not have them pay to put us up someplace.

I will send prayers and good thoughts your way. It is an awful thing to go through, but I will assure you "life" will be normal again someday. The day we moved into our rental home was the day I started to feel like "ME" again. We had people come out of the woodwork donating clothing and household items to us. Which I'll never forget. Family and friends neighbors gave us stuff. Every little bit helped. The insurance money didn't cover the entire contents of everything you need.....so we visited a lot of thrift stores to get other things.