G
gmjand
Guest
What is the name of your state? Virginia
I came home one day from work and heard fast popping sounds coming from the ceiling. I look up and there's a large crack that began to spread and spread. I called the fire department for assistance knowing about the radiant heating system we have. By the time they arrived the ceiling had completely collapse over everything. I was the only one home and was not hurt.
We contacted our insurance agent the next day and advised them of all the insulation flying around the home and the fact that both our boys have asthma. They sent an adjuster later that evening along with a restoration company to begin cleanup. The adjuster took a few pictures of the ceiling...nothing left but the nails.
The next morning the restoration company came out and began cleaning up the sheetrock, insulation, etc. The adjuster came later to canvas the furniture for damages. He gave approval for the restoration company to begin fixing the ceiling and to also place our furniture in storage because we had no additional space.
The restoration came and put up sheetrock (so that we could use our air conditioning as the weather was hot for a few days). A few days later we hadn't heard anything so my husband calls the restoration company only to find out that the adjuster had everything put on hold. We contacted the insurance company who basically told us they were denying the claim based on information provided from the adjuster. It was the insurance co. understanding that the original contractor who built the homes used faulty nails. Well the homes were built in 1972. It survived 31 years on those nails which had to have been appropriate to used at that time. They stated that because of the radiant heat, it caused the ceiling to expand and collapse. Our policy doesn't pay for expansions, shrinking, cracking.
The adjuster spoke to my husband and said his decision was based on previous incidents in other homes. When asked about the fact that the ceiling was over 31 years old, the adjuster replied he never thought about that. He said he was going to visit the restoration co because they had save pieces of the ceiling for him to review. According to the restoration co., everything they removed that day went to the dump.
The adjuster attempted to amend his report. However, to no avail. The insurance co. told my husband they checked with other adjuster and expansion is "usually" the cause of something like this. Nothing was ever considered about the fact that the sheetrock was old and had lost the value of it's qulaity--hidden decay (which is covered under the policy).
We were told the insurance co would pay for any expenses approved initially by the adjuster. They are paying for the moving and storage of our furniture, but we're told now that we have to pay the restoration co. for the worked that was initially done prior to denial of the claim because "we would have had to pay someone anyway". He apologized for the inconvenienced he had caused us, wished us good luck and said our furniture would be returned. But we're responsible.
We feel the adjuster based his decision (and in so many words he said that) solely on previous incident in other homes. We contacted the city building inspection office for info. on the original contractor who is no longer in business. Who's the one to say the nails were faulty? Even the fire inspector said the sealant used on the sheetrock had deteriorated over the years...hidden decay.
We feel the insurance co. should be liable to fix our ceiling and replace our broken furniture. We should not be responsible for repair that was approved by an adjuster who told us "he expedited everything because of the boys asthma and that he was so sure the insurance co. would approve the claim." Where do we go from here?
I came home one day from work and heard fast popping sounds coming from the ceiling. I look up and there's a large crack that began to spread and spread. I called the fire department for assistance knowing about the radiant heating system we have. By the time they arrived the ceiling had completely collapse over everything. I was the only one home and was not hurt.
We contacted our insurance agent the next day and advised them of all the insulation flying around the home and the fact that both our boys have asthma. They sent an adjuster later that evening along with a restoration company to begin cleanup. The adjuster took a few pictures of the ceiling...nothing left but the nails.
The next morning the restoration company came out and began cleaning up the sheetrock, insulation, etc. The adjuster came later to canvas the furniture for damages. He gave approval for the restoration company to begin fixing the ceiling and to also place our furniture in storage because we had no additional space.
The restoration came and put up sheetrock (so that we could use our air conditioning as the weather was hot for a few days). A few days later we hadn't heard anything so my husband calls the restoration company only to find out that the adjuster had everything put on hold. We contacted the insurance company who basically told us they were denying the claim based on information provided from the adjuster. It was the insurance co. understanding that the original contractor who built the homes used faulty nails. Well the homes were built in 1972. It survived 31 years on those nails which had to have been appropriate to used at that time. They stated that because of the radiant heat, it caused the ceiling to expand and collapse. Our policy doesn't pay for expansions, shrinking, cracking.
The adjuster spoke to my husband and said his decision was based on previous incidents in other homes. When asked about the fact that the ceiling was over 31 years old, the adjuster replied he never thought about that. He said he was going to visit the restoration co because they had save pieces of the ceiling for him to review. According to the restoration co., everything they removed that day went to the dump.
The adjuster attempted to amend his report. However, to no avail. The insurance co. told my husband they checked with other adjuster and expansion is "usually" the cause of something like this. Nothing was ever considered about the fact that the sheetrock was old and had lost the value of it's qulaity--hidden decay (which is covered under the policy).
We were told the insurance co would pay for any expenses approved initially by the adjuster. They are paying for the moving and storage of our furniture, but we're told now that we have to pay the restoration co. for the worked that was initially done prior to denial of the claim because "we would have had to pay someone anyway". He apologized for the inconvenienced he had caused us, wished us good luck and said our furniture would be returned. But we're responsible.
We feel the adjuster based his decision (and in so many words he said that) solely on previous incident in other homes. We contacted the city building inspection office for info. on the original contractor who is no longer in business. Who's the one to say the nails were faulty? Even the fire inspector said the sealant used on the sheetrock had deteriorated over the years...hidden decay.
We feel the insurance co. should be liable to fix our ceiling and replace our broken furniture. We should not be responsible for repair that was approved by an adjuster who told us "he expedited everything because of the boys asthma and that he was so sure the insurance co. would approve the claim." Where do we go from here?