Just lost everything.

[skipro3]

Hello,
I live in California, near the town of El Dorado. On July 16th of this year, a woman, driving a white pickup truck, hit a motorcycle rider head on and killed him. She had the front driver's wheel, not just the tire, ripped from the truck. She did not stop, but instead, sped away in a shower of sparks as her front suspension dragged on the ground. She continued to drive for over 7 miles, starting several wild land fires. One of the fires, 3 miles from the initial accident scene, raced up a hillside to my home destroying my home, my cars, my motorcycles, my boat, my RV's, everything. My wife and I made it out, but we lost 2 pets, a dog and a cat. I didn't even make it out with my wallet. The fire was upon us too quickly to run back into the house.
My insurance agent told me my coverage amounts are as follows:

Basic $199,000
Extended $ 99,500 50% of basic due to complete loss
Trees $ 9,950 $500 per tree with a maximum of 5% of basic.
Personal Prop $139,300 70% of basic
Other Structures $ 19,900 10% of basic
Sub Total $467,650

Also, any loss-of-use expenses to include: home and property. No limit on dollar amount, 2 years on home.

Right now, the insurance company is putting me up in a Marriot Residence Inn and is finalizing the rental of a home available only a few lots down from where we lost our home. We live on a ridge with minimum 5 acre parcels. All 5 acres have burned. My primary agent, (seperate agents for the home, personal property, boat and car) told me that he didn't think there would be a problem awarding me the maximum amounts in my coverages related to the home. Boat and car, he coudn't comment on since he doesn't deal with those areas.
We would like to rebuild, but the shear intensity of the fire damaged even the base of the home's foundation to where that will need to be replaced. Driveways and walkways were destroyed when the fire completely destroyed the boat and RV's. I have photos if there's anyone who could lead me to a way to post them. The heat and fire evaported the boat completely, leaving only a trailer. Of course the DMV said we didn't own a boat due to their poor record keeping, but the county tax collector had records of the personal property tax, so the insurance company could insure we did indeed own a boat.
My policy coverage included the additional coverage of replacement cost, not just actual cost value. My agent told me to start making a list of my personal items, but frankly, there's no way I'm going to remember everything I own after being married for 31 years and living in my home on 5 acres for more than 21 years. How do I ensure that I collect the entire sum I was insured for without going nuts making lists of property? That type of research, finding the costs of every single item would take me a full time career and I have to return to work soon. Also, for the home itself, what do I tell the appraiser in order to make sure I get the maximum value for my home. I don't have a mortgage and I have had my home paid off for over 5 years. My wife and I have done extensive remodeling inside and have spent approx. $90,000 renovating the home and furnishing the bedrooms. We had not done the main living/kitchen area, but materials were bought and staged in the garage for us to do those this summer.
Please let me know what I need to do in order to collect the maximum amount so that I might begin to recover my life again.

Also, what would I need to do to begin proceedings on the woman who started this whole thing? She's in jail right now on a $10,000,000 bail. I don't think the judge wanted her to run************** again.
Thanks so much for any advise,
Jerry

 

[seniorjudge]

Hello,
I live in California, near the town of El Dorado. On July 16th of this year, a woman, driving a white pickup truck, hit a motorcycle rider head on and killed him. She had the front driver's wheel, not just the tire, ripped from the truck. She did not stop, but instead, sped away in a shower of sparks as her front suspension dragged on the ground. She continued to drive for over 7 miles, starting several wild land fires. One of the fires, 3 miles from the initial accident scene, raced up a hillside to my home destroying my home, my cars, my motorcycles, my boat, my RV's, everything. My wife and I made it out, but we lost 2 pets, a dog and a cat. I didn't even make it out with my wallet. The fire was upon us too quickly to run back into the house.
My insurance agent told me my coverage amounts are as follows:

Basic $199,000
Extended $ 99,500 50% of basic due to complete loss
Trees $ 9,950 $500 per tree with a maximum of 5% of basic.
Personal Prop $139,300 70% of basic
Other Structures $ 19,900 10% of basic
Sub Total $467,650

Also, any loss-of-use expenses to include: home and property. No limit on dollar amount, 2 years on home.

Right now, the insurance company is putting me up in a Marriot Residence Inn and is finalizing the rental of a home available only a few lots down from where we lost our home. We live on a ridge with minimum 5 acre parcels. All 5 acres have burned. My primary agent, (seperate agents for the home, personal property, boat and car) told me that he didn't think there would be a problem awarding me the maximum amounts in my coverages related to the home. Boat and car, he coudn't comment on since he doesn't deal with those areas.
We would like to rebuild, but the shear intensity of the fire damaged even the base of the home's foundation to where that will need to be replaced. Driveways and walkways were destroyed when the fire completely destroyed the boat and RV's. I have photos if there's anyone who could lead me to a way to post them. The heat and fire evaported the boat completely, leaving only a trailer. Of course the DMV said we didn't own a boat due to their poor record keeping, but the county tax collector had records of the personal property tax, so the insurance company could insure we did indeed own a boat.
My policy coverage included the additional coverage of replacement cost, not just actual cost value. My agent told me to start making a list of my personal items, but frankly, there's no way I'm going to remember everything I own after being married for 31 years and living in my home on 5 acres for more than 21 years. How do I ensure that I collect the entire sum I was insured for without going nuts making lists of property? That type of research, finding the costs of every single item would take me a full time career and I have to return to work soon. Also, for the home itself, what do I tell the appraiser in order to make sure I get the maximum value for my home. I don't have a mortgage and I have had my home paid off for over 5 years. My wife and I have done extensive remodeling inside and have spent approx. $90,000 renovating the home and furnishing the bedrooms. We had not done the main living/kitchen area, but materials were bought and staged in the garage for us to do those this summer.
Please let me know what I need to do in order to collect the maximum amount so that I might begin to recover my life again.

Also, what would I need to do to begin proceedings on the woman who started this whole thing? She's in jail right now on a $10,000,000 bail. I don't think the judge wanted her to run************** again.
Thanks so much for any advise,
Jerry

Jerry, hire a lawyer and sue the woman.

If she has no money and no insurance, you will get nothing from her.

But, it's worth a shot.

 

[skipro3]

Yes, I plan on doing just that with the woman, but since she killed a man in the process, I don't think I'll see anything after his widow gets finished.
For now, I don't want to make any amature mistakes with the insurance company. I will not lie to them, just want to know that since I paid for all this insurance that I'll collect the maximum that I am legally entitled to.
Thanks again!
Jerry

 

[moburkes]

You probably will collect the maximum, except for the land. The insurance will not cover it, generally. In order to receive replacement cost, the insurance company usually only gives you ACV. You take that money, replace some things, submit the receipts showing replacement, and then get reimbursed for the difference.

Your remodeling will not necessarily be included, unless you updated your insurance policy to reflect that. So, if your remodeling increased the value of your home, but you didn't insure it for a higher value, they are not going to voluntarily hand over money when you didn't insure your property.

Good luck.

 

[antiadjuster]

just lost everything

We're dealing with a house fire and loss from March 3.I would suggest hiring a private adjuster to help you.We're killing ourselves batteling over everything.It's too late for us but for you the sooner the better.We still don't have any construction started.We don't have any contents money to replace items.10% is well worth the pain you'll avoid.Let a pro deal with those nasty insurance people(even if they seem nice now)p.s. the'll tell you not to get an adjuster but they use one...

 

[Country Living]

The more documentation you have on the house and the contents the easier it is to settle the claim. The responsibility is on you to prove what you had and what you lost - an adjuster just cannot take your word for it. That's why pictures, inventory systems, receipts, and other similar documentation are so valuable in case of a loss.

 

[alligatorob]

Sorry for your loss, I know how confusing it all feels right now.

My wife and I lost most of our personal possessions in a Hurricane last year and here is how we made up our list of person possessions and what they were worth. First we got all the old pictures we could find and then sat down together and went through room by room carefully listing everything we had. We put it in a spreadsheet and as we did it I looked up similar items on Amazon.com or other online sales places and came up with values. I copied the web address onto the spreadsheet for reference. We did it room by room, separately for closets halls, porches, garage, storage buildings, out in the yard etc.

As we went along we looked at various catalogues and talked about the little things, how many pairs of socks, cold medicines, wine, food, CDs, old LP records (we priced those on ebay), books, belts, tools, building materials, hats, fishing tackle, sewing things, yarn, and the more we talked and thought the longer the list got. Think about what was in a corner, behind a box, in all of your drawers, things you may not have seen or used in years. We did this over a couple of weeks and spent a lot of hours on it. By the time we were done we were amazed how much we had lost and how long the list looked.

The insurance company only paid us ACV, but they did not question a single item on the list, and they accepted all of our replacement cost estimates and then depreciated them.

We keep thinking of things we forgot, but we did get most of it. Just remember they will probably pay you for anything you claim, but they certainly won’t pay you for anything you don’t claim.

 

[skipro3]

Thanks for everyone's tips. Unfortunately, there are no photos. Everything burned. The only things not burned to dust was the foundation, which just crumbles if you kick it with your foot, and steel. Even the steel is all twisted from the heat and it's own weight as it softened to a plastic-like state. I will make a list as was suggested. Good advise on how to shop and remember. I have replacement cost, but plan to submit a list long enough to max out my policy with just the ACV. Any ideas on how much they depreciate the items? Any advise on claiming items as antiques or collector items as oppossed to just a used item? Again, thanks for the help.

P.S. The only thing left on 5 acres of oak forested land is the mail box and a whole lot of firewood. We lost every living plant and tree, every walkway, every driveway, every plant, every thing. Nothing was spared. It's costing us about $40,000 to clean up and haul it all away.

 

[moburkes]

You will not be able to claim anything as unusally expensive or old, unless you specifically purchased a rider for that. For example, there is a limit on jewelry and cash, regardless of how much was actually lost. However, you could have purchased a rider for that $25k engagement ring that you bought your wife. Without that rider, you will receive about $250 for that ring.

 

[2kountry]

Get Pictures/Video

Get pictures/video of your home, damage. As time goes by things are forgotten. These things seem to take forever to settle and there seems to be many angles of view. Right now it seems like you will never forget but as time passes only the major items remain in our memory.

 

[moburkes]

Get pictures/video of your home, damage. As time goes by things are forgotten. These things seem to take forever to settle and there seems to be many angles of view. Right now it seems like you will never forget but as time passes only the major items remain in our memory.

What are you suggesting that he take pictures OF? And, why are you resurrecting a thread from August?