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Tree Fallen on Home - Advice Needed

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tmf1977

Junior Member
NY - Hello all -

My home sustained severe damages back in July, 2009, when a 150 year old oak tree was uprooted, fell and struck my home during a freak downburst. The tree managed to take out my entire north side of my home damaging my living room, basement, two full baths, chimney and fireplace (masonry/brick & stone), about 60% of my roof, and also three bedrooms.

Although my insurance carrier (State Farm) was prompt in sending an adjuster immediately to inspect damages, we are now going on nearly six months without the claim being fully resolved. So far we have received some checks from State Farm, however the checks provided do not sufficiently add up to how much it will repair my home (so far we received less than $250K; it will take $350K to properly restore my home pre-storm condition).

We expressed several concerns regarding the handling adjuster to our carrier. For starters, the adjuster said in late July he would take measurements of our home while we awaited to receive initial permit from the city to start initial work on our home (removal of walls to view damages) and located an arbor contractor to remove the tree (the tree was also still laying on top of our home at the time). Instead of just taking measurements, the adjuster produced his damage report to us in late August. None of our walls were down to see if there was shifting, damage to beams and joints, etc. We also had recent work performed in my home in which the adjuster depreciated my house over 20%. On top of this, the adjuster estimated damages to being only $75K. We immediately called the adjuster's manager and insisted on a supplemental inspection. The manager agreed and said he would send his adjuster back once the permit was finalized and we removed the tree and performed initial construction to remove walls to view if there were structural damages where the tree hit our home.

In sum, we had this adjuster back to our home a total of eight times to date. Every visit did not include a full review of damages. For example, in October the adjuster put in his supplemental report that our porcelain tub could be cleaned and re-glazed--that would have been great only thing in August the roof caved in while the tree was removed and cracked our tub in half! Tub has been missing from our bathroom since August! Example two: adjuster estimated that putting in a new electrical breaker/box would take one hour to perform the work and half hour to test--in reality that is a full day job (I used to work for a very reputable contracting company).

We have been more than compliant with State Farm and our contractor is becoming frustrated to boot. We keep showing State Farm things in this adjuster's report that are missing or way off (not just with pricing, but amount of labor to perform the scope of work). We even provided current municipal codes too and this adjuster just does not get it.

We asked the insurance company to place a new adjuster on our case in October after viewing three incomplete reports and low estimates. However according to the claims manager, he said it would take even more time for a new adjuster to come up to speed on our claim. We also don't want to be forced to take our home down in entirety--we just put in a new kitchen in June, 2009. However since our home has been damaged pretty badly (about 70% of my home is gone) we are now seeing mold and other fungai spreading throughout and also deep cracking popping up in areas which originally were not any initial damage present.

Despite even providing municipal codes indicating that our entire roof needs to be replaced (city mandates that if a roof has more than 55% damages incurred, it has to be replaced in full--not flashed). However, the adjuster still refuses to pay for a new roof.

On Friday I complained to the claims manager (again) and the manager more or less told me that he stands by his adjuster and the estimates provided so far are fair and $250K is more than reasonable amount of money for repairs. The claims manager also said that State Farm acted in good faith and the company has been more than cooperative with us in sending the adjuster back out to our home several times when requested. My contractor (who at one time worked as a public adjuster in FL) is going to appeal to the claims manager's superior on Monday and insist on having one last visit with a new adjuster and have a sit down negotiation meeting to resolve the claim. Would this help, or will this be a waste of our time?

This entire process is starting to wear on my family (including my eight year old son). And the most ironic part: our coverage limit is $350K and we have also a 20% buffer for rebuild/replacement coverage in our policy.

What can we do to resolve this mess? Do we really need to retain an attorney at this point?

Sorry for the very long post; I would really appreciate some feedback and advice from others who were in the same perdicament.

Thanks in advance and happy holidays to all :)
 


moburkes

Senior Member
While the city may require a new roof, that doesn't obligate your insurance company - unless you have a law & ordinance type coverage on your policy. Do you have an HO3 or an HO5 policy?

You can contact the department of insurance for your state if you'd like.

Also, if removing the tree damaged the tub, then the tree removal company is responsible for that damage.
 

tmf1977

Junior Member
**UPDATE**

We were able to reach out and have the adjuster's manger become more involved in attempting to move my claim along and perhaps finally coming to a full resolution. My coverage does indeed allow for enforcement of codes so therefor replacing the roof is not an issue now.

To moburkes:

You have to be an adjuster or someone who works in the insurance industry; your response didn't even address my questions or concerns. Thanks for at least trying though (LOL).
 
Last edited:

moburkes

Senior Member
No, I'm not an adjuster. Yes, I spend most of my day interpreting policies. I used to sell them way back in the day. I never had an unsatisfied customer because I made sure they had the proper coverages when they bought the policy. Yes, the type of policy determines what coverages you have.
 

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