What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington (Whatcom County)
We suffered a house fire in mid February. The interior of the entire house was declared a loss. All of our belongings, and all of the house components down to the studs and exterior sheathing. Windows, doors, furnace, ductowrk, wiring, plumbing, etc.. all needed to be replaced.
The demolition company was a preferred partner of the insurance company our policy is with, so we were not given any choice in choosing them, nor were we given the opportunity to approve, much less view any quote or estimate. We actually had a few different companies offer to come out to give estimates, but we were told we HAD to go with their preferred company.
Our 1,100 square foot house was built in the early 70's, and the family room still had popcorn ceilings. During the demolition, they tested the ceiling and found asbestos, so the demolition company hired a sub contractor for removing it. They came in, and did additional tests on the walls and floor, finding asbestos residue everywhere, so the entire interior of the home was treated as hazardous waste and had to be removed as such.
All of this we heard second hand, and was more of a scheduling issue, because we still had not seen any bills, estimates, or quotes from either company, since they were the preferred vendor.
Meanwhile, we interviewed and hired a contractor to handle the rebuild. They submitted their quote to us and to the insurance company's adjuster for approval, and all was good. All we had to do now was wait for the demolition company to finish removing our contents, and the abatement company to remove the drywall and flooring. They get about 60% done, and have delay after delay.. We're into April now, and since the asbestos removal is finished, our gc basically tells the demolition company they are done, and that he will handle the crawlspace insulation, door, window, trim demo, and smoke sealing all the framing members. Things they were supposed to do, but enough waiting is enough.
Anyway, that's the back story.
Shortly after this, our contractor calls us to tell us we have a problem. The bill for the asbestos removal and demolition is 62 grand.. for an 1,100 square foot house. The max amount available in our insurance policy is 147 (which everyone agrees was not enough coverage in the first place, but that's not a number we set). The estimated cost to repair the house is quoted at 134, and that's with downgrading finishes from what we had before. With additions for code upgrade coverage and demolition overage, max amount is 169.
Basically, we're about 30 grand shy of what it's going to cost to rebuild the house, and the insurance company has basically told us "oh well". We've asked for some sort of review of the asbestos or demolition billing, because everyone else we've spoken too has been taken aback at the amount that was charged for it. I guess the demo company hired an out of state abatement company from Oregon, and that's where they shipped and disposed of the refuse from our home, but we have several local companies, and there is disposal areas for residential asbestos material up here.
Are we just stuck? Do we have any recourse since we were given no ability to bid or even review the billing for the demo/abatement? What other options do we have?
Our contractor is trying to find solutions, and our primary adjuster at the insurance company was as well, but recently her boss got involved and shut down any of the work around solutions we had been discussing.
We suffered a house fire in mid February. The interior of the entire house was declared a loss. All of our belongings, and all of the house components down to the studs and exterior sheathing. Windows, doors, furnace, ductowrk, wiring, plumbing, etc.. all needed to be replaced.
The demolition company was a preferred partner of the insurance company our policy is with, so we were not given any choice in choosing them, nor were we given the opportunity to approve, much less view any quote or estimate. We actually had a few different companies offer to come out to give estimates, but we were told we HAD to go with their preferred company.
Our 1,100 square foot house was built in the early 70's, and the family room still had popcorn ceilings. During the demolition, they tested the ceiling and found asbestos, so the demolition company hired a sub contractor for removing it. They came in, and did additional tests on the walls and floor, finding asbestos residue everywhere, so the entire interior of the home was treated as hazardous waste and had to be removed as such.
All of this we heard second hand, and was more of a scheduling issue, because we still had not seen any bills, estimates, or quotes from either company, since they were the preferred vendor.
Meanwhile, we interviewed and hired a contractor to handle the rebuild. They submitted their quote to us and to the insurance company's adjuster for approval, and all was good. All we had to do now was wait for the demolition company to finish removing our contents, and the abatement company to remove the drywall and flooring. They get about 60% done, and have delay after delay.. We're into April now, and since the asbestos removal is finished, our gc basically tells the demolition company they are done, and that he will handle the crawlspace insulation, door, window, trim demo, and smoke sealing all the framing members. Things they were supposed to do, but enough waiting is enough.
Anyway, that's the back story.
Shortly after this, our contractor calls us to tell us we have a problem. The bill for the asbestos removal and demolition is 62 grand.. for an 1,100 square foot house. The max amount available in our insurance policy is 147 (which everyone agrees was not enough coverage in the first place, but that's not a number we set). The estimated cost to repair the house is quoted at 134, and that's with downgrading finishes from what we had before. With additions for code upgrade coverage and demolition overage, max amount is 169.
Basically, we're about 30 grand shy of what it's going to cost to rebuild the house, and the insurance company has basically told us "oh well". We've asked for some sort of review of the asbestos or demolition billing, because everyone else we've spoken too has been taken aback at the amount that was charged for it. I guess the demo company hired an out of state abatement company from Oregon, and that's where they shipped and disposed of the refuse from our home, but we have several local companies, and there is disposal areas for residential asbestos material up here.
Are we just stuck? Do we have any recourse since we were given no ability to bid or even review the billing for the demo/abatement? What other options do we have?
Our contractor is trying to find solutions, and our primary adjuster at the insurance company was as well, but recently her boss got involved and shut down any of the work around solutions we had been discussing.
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