Home Owners Insurance

[safeburn]

kentucky, Louisville

Need help dealing with insurance company over fire loss settlement. How to proceed.

 

[JETX]

Need help dealing with insurance company over fire loss settlement. How to proceed.

Pick up phone.
Call attorney.

 

[seniorjudge]

Pick up phone.
Call attorney.




I agree.

 

[HomeGuru]

that's a no brainer.....

 

[seniorjudge]

that's a no brainer.....

That's good since I have no brain....

 

[HomeGuru]

That's good since I have no brain....

**A: in the old days, you could order one from ebay.

 

[safeburn]

1st Reply

I was under the impression that this was a web site for seeking help? I was hopping that the guidance would be a little better than just insulting my intelligence. I would hope that if you people ever go through something as difficult as loosing your entire home and contents to a fire or similar situation that when seeking help the people who contact you will be a little more help and a lot less disrespectful. I know I can call a lawyer but didn’t want to do something so drastic if I could avoid it. I was hoping that someone with knowledge on how to deal with insurances companies might contact me and let me know what options I might have available to me that I might not know about other than picking up a phone and calling an attorney. I was also hopping that this person might tell me if calling an attorney would even be in my best interest or worth the trouble.

 

[JETX]

I was hopping that the guidance would be a little better than just insulting my intelligence.

And we were 'hopping' that you would ask a more reasonable question than the overly broad and vague "How to proceed.".
That is like looking at a forest and asking us "how to build a house".
Or looking at a piece of steel plate and asking us "how to build an airplane".

 

[seniorjudge]

I was under the impression that this was a web site for seeking help? I was hopping that the guidance would be a little better than just insulting my intelligence. I would hope that if you people ever go through something as difficult as loosing your entire home and contents to a fire or similar situation that when seeking help the people who contact you will be a little more help and a lot less disrespectful. I know I can call a lawyer but didn’t want to do something so drastic if I could avoid it. I was hoping that someone with knowledge on how to deal with insurances companies might contact me and let me know what options I might have available to me that I might not know about other than picking up a phone and calling an attorney. I was also hopping that this person might tell me if calling an attorney would even be in my best interest or worth the trouble.

What is your legal question for us?

 

[safeburn]

We lost our house on Dec. 20th of last year. It was a total loss. We were offered a settlement in Jan. to rebuild. We went out and priced the rebuild with several builders and contractors etc. The prices we received were higher than what we were told we could rebuild for. In March we approached the insurance company with this information and their response was that their offer was fair and we should be able to rebuild for this price. Then in July/August after going back and forth with them and the builders they admitted that the adjuster had an inaccuracy version of the software. They have offered us actually more for the rebuild now then what we told them it should have been back in March. However our living expenses expire Dec. 20th and we do not have time to rebuild the home in the time remaining. We have asked for consideration of an extension and have been told again that the offer they have made is all they are willing to do. We have been informed that we may have a bad faith claim. I thought that my next step would be to find out if I have a claim worth pursuing with a lawyer and/or if it is even worth my time. I was told that if I do have a bad faith claim that I could possibly be entitle to not only extended living expenses but compensation for mental anguish for all that they have put me and my family through. We would have been back in our home back in July if they had found there problem back in March. In fact we went to them several times and requested they re-look at our claim. It wasn't until we sent a four page letter to the company and copied a supervisor that we found out about the software issue. I really don't want to sue them but I don't want to get the short end of the stick either. We have already taken a tremendous loss just in personal property and emotional suffering. We just want it to be over.

 

[HomeGuru]

We lost our house on Dec. 20th of last year. It was a total loss. We were offered a settlement in Jan. to rebuild. We went out and priced the rebuild with several builders and contractors etc. The prices we received were higher than what we were told we could rebuild for. In March we approached the insurance company with this information and their response was that their offer was fair and we should be able to rebuild for this price. Then in July/August after going back and forth with them and the builders they admitted that the adjuster had an inaccuracy version of the software. They have offered us actually more for the rebuild now then what we told them it should have been back in March. However our living expenses expire Dec. 20th and we do not have time to rebuild the home in the time remaining. We have asked for consideration of an extension and have been told again that the offer they have made is all they are willing to do. We have been informed that we may have a bad faith claim. I thought that my next step would be to find out if I have a claim worth pursuing with a lawyer and/or if it is even worth my time. I was told that if I do have a bad faith claim that I could possibly be entitle to not only extended living expenses but compensation for mental anguish for all that they have put me and my family through. We would have been back in our home back in July if they had found there problem back in March. In fact we went to them several times and requested they re-look at our claim. It wasn't until we sent a four page letter to the company and copied a supervisor that we found out about the software issue. I really don't want to sue them but I don't want to get the short end of the stick either. We have already taken a tremendous loss just in personal property and emotional suffering. We just want it to be over.

**A: hire an attorney. You need one very badly.

 

[JETX]

We lost our house on Dec. 20th of last year. It was a total loss. We were offered a settlement in Jan. to rebuild. We went out and priced the rebuild with several builders and contractors etc. The prices we received were higher than what we were told we could rebuild for. In March we approached the insurance company with this information and their response was that their offer was fair and we should be able to rebuild for this price. Then in July/August after going back and forth with them and the builders they admitted that the adjuster had an inaccuracy version of the software. They have offered us actually more for the rebuild now then what we told them it should have been back in March. However our living expenses expire Dec. 20th and we do not have time to rebuild the home in the time remaining. We have asked for consideration of an extension and have been told again that the offer they have made is all they are willing to do. We have been informed that we may have a bad faith claim. I thought that my next step would be to find out if I have a claim worth pursuing with a lawyer and/or if it is even worth my time. I was told that if I do have a bad faith claim that I could possibly be entitle to not only extended living expenses but compensation for mental anguish for all that they have put me and my family through. We would have been back in our home back in July if they had found there problem back in March. In fact we went to them several times and requested they re-look at our claim. It wasn't until we sent a four page letter to the company and copied a supervisor that we found out about the software issue. I really don't want to sue them but I don't want to get the short end of the stick either. We have already taken a tremendous loss just in personal property and emotional suffering. We just want it to be over.

After reading your detailed version... my opinion is:
You have no claim against the insurance company. They dealt with you fairly and without 'bad faith'. Bad faith would be if they KNOWINGLY mishandled your claim.

bad faith
n. intentional dishonest act by not fulfilling legal or contractual obligations, misleading another, entering into an agreement without the intention or means to fulfill it, or violating basic standards of honesty in dealing with others. Most states recognize what is called "implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing" which is breached by acts of bad faith, for which a lawsuit may be brought (filed) for the breach (just as one might sue for breach of contract). The question of bad faith may be raised as a defense to a suit on a contract.

You can certainly try to negotiate an additional REASONABLE compensation for the delay in resolving this.... but a lot will fall on what, if any, delays were caused by YOUR failure to do something (file claim, provide receipts, etc.)... which would require a COMPLETE timeline review.

My suggestion is to get the best deal you can from the insurance company... settle and move on. That is unless you want to spend the next two years or so with the status remaining as it is today.

 

[safeburn]

JETX,
I appreciate the definition.
I have tried to be fair with them. We did request consideration for additional expenses and their response was “Our offer is what it is and we feel it is fair.” What makes me so mad is that we went to them several times, only to be told that they felt their offer was fair. It wasn’t until we were able to get a hold of the software that is listed in our policy and do the estimate on our own. When we submitted it to the insurance company we got an immediate response that our agent had an outdated version on his computer. Now I would think that a) that is not an acceptable excuse for someone who does this everyday for a living and b) if we asked them to recheck several times you would think it wouldn’t take 7 months to figure out and then only after we were able to prove to them that what we were saying about their offer was true. Now when we did this we requested consideration for an extension of living expenses and their response was as stated above. We have made this request several times with the same answer. We involved the State and they tried to work as an intermediary but with no difference in response. The state told us that they could not force them into a settlement and that if we wanted to pursue this we should seek legal advice. This is what brought us to the website. I found it while looking for a referral service.
I feel that (and I know that doesn’t account for much) what we have asked for is reasonable especially since this was in-fact their negligence that brought us to this point. In addition I spent 6 additional months going back and forth with builders and the insurance company because they kept telling me that they felt that we should be able to rebuild for their offer. Never did we get any numbers that were not in line with the original proposals.
We have a replacement police. Now if I had the experience back in Jan. that I have now things would be different. Live and learn. We have asked them to extend our living expenses and in addition on the advice of the state we asked them to give us the balance of the offer with no strings and we would wave the living expenses. Our police have us replacing our home and then getting an appraisal to qualify for the balance of the offer. Again they told the state that the offer was what it was.

 

[JETX]

Okay, so with all that, the bottom line still remains:
1) Negotiate your best offer from them. Accept it. Take their check. Sign their release. Move on.
Or
2) Reject their offer. Get about $10k PLUS to hire an attorney. File a lawsuit. Wait a year or two for your case to get to court. Toss the dice and see if you win.

Your choice.