[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

Checkmate. ROFL. It may be 2017, but lessons learned from the past can serve one well going forward, they certainly have in our case.

Sincerely, I hope you never have occasion to find out first hand how destructive a major hurricane can be, even in a well constructed CBS home ( such damage is likely to occur from flying debris), or how onerous and difficult the rebuilding process can be in the aftermath of such a hurricane, especially when you are in a highly populated area that has taken a direct hit.

We hope Andrew will have been a once in a lifetime experience for us as well. Listening to the forecasts of the tracks and intensity of Irma in Sept of 2017 as it made its way west though, with the spectre of Cat 4, or possibly 5 storm winds and a storm surge of ???? along the west FL coast, (or so they predicted), we were afraid we might be facing the total destruction of our house, and the ensuing chaotic rebuilding process all over again. Thank G-d this did not come to be, and we can only be eternally for that. But IMO that we were spared the worst does not mean we should be complacent and not prepared for the possibility, however remote it may be, that one day, it might happen all over again.

Sure a "big one" might hit, I'm certain of it eventually, but the same can be said about any natural disaster. An asteroid might destroy life on the planet, although less likely than the above. Saying, you didn't have a means to check reviews in 1992, means nothing today which is the topic. If a cat 5 hits Florida, it will not take two years to repair a well built home now unless you really drag your feet or are extremely unlucky.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Sure a "big one" might hit, I'm certain of it eventually, but the same can be said about any natural disaster. An asteroid might destroy life on the planet, although less likely than the above. Saying, you didn't have a means to check reviews in 1992, means nothing today which is the topic. If a cat 5 hits Florida, it will not take two years to repair a well built home now unless you really drag your feet or are extremely unlucky.

Let's hope so. Better yet, let's hope we never have the occasion to find out.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

Let's hope so. Better yet, let's hope we never have the occasion to find out.

I know for a fact a quality built home wont take 2 years to repair, but yes let's hope not lol

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Even so, we are not talking two year time frames. Since Irma, I've had my roof already fixed, pool enclosure is all ready to start being built at the start of January, gutters have already been cleaned etc... two years?! That's nonsense.

Wow, that was quick. With Matthew it was much longer for repairs unless you did it yourself. As I said it was 5 months before they started ours, some were six months or more. Roofs that were leaking were done quicker as one building was done last year because of leaks. We just had tabs missing. Time frame also depends on what you can afford. Some people here still haven't fixed their missing screens from Irma. My guess laziness or cost. My husband fixed ours immediately on our return.

I have seen new custom houses take 2 or more years to build here. I honestly don't know why, whether it is cash flow issues, trouble getting the next group in to do work or what. They are building a new car dealership near here and so far it has been about a year and a half and still it is not completed. In South Carolina where I lived before it seemed things went up overnight.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Calabaza dream

Give it up already. You were wrong and made the wrong assumptions. Many of us who have lived through Andrew, Wilma and know these repairs can take a long time and even contractors with good reputations can take your money and not pay their subcontractors. People are good until they aren't.

It sounds like you don't know what is dealing with hurricane damage and insurance claims. I filed a claim right after Irma and I haven't heard from my insurance yet. They sent an adjuster last weekend. the process is very slow and most likely the insurance company will try to screw us by paying us less than what we should get. They do that because they are in the business of making money and they know many people don't want to go through the process of several inspections and waiting forever. They know how to make money and have the best lawyers and actuaries who know a lot of information about probabilities and human psychology.

Nope, most people will be fine in a hurricane, that is the truth, even in a cat 5 storm, most people will survive, but still you have plenty of notice to leave. Last time I checked 50% of the population weren't wiped out from Andrew lol. Stop being exaggerating babies.

[kokonutty]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

I think we learned those lessons as well. Definitely deal with a local mortgage lender, as they tend to know the local conditions and what people there are dealing with-heck, their employees are likely going through the same conditions.

Our lender was located near Detroit, MI-our mortgage had been sold to them several years earlier. They had no clue what was going on, didn't really care and I don't think they believed us when we told them we really did intend to use the insurance for rebuilding. They were insulting to us when we called, and there were a couple shouting matches between us during phone calls when we called to get them to send us some of that insurance money so we could get somewhere with the rebuilding process.

We're also prepared with nonperishable food, water and other supplies for several weeks if need be. We're on the water now, so would evacuate in the event of a cat 3 or greater storm, and in the possibility of a storm surge as well-although we are 10-12 miles upriver from the Harbor.

I would submit that permitting one's relationship with their insurance provider or lender to deteriorate to the point of shouting matches and insults is not conducive to expeditious servicing of a claim. It takes two to tango.

[tinytrump]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Nope, most people will be fine in a hurricane, that is the truth, even in a cat 5 storm, most people will survive, but still you have plenty of notice to leave. Last time I checked 50% of the population weren't wiped out from Andrew lol. Stop being exaggerating babies.

A lot went to WPB and Orlando after Andrew. I came up after Wilma. Not because of me, but the little g-kids. I moved then 1/2 of my family followed. If you are not prepared it’s very very costly in more ways than one .

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by kokonutty

I would submit that permitting one's relationship with their insurance provider or lender to deteriorate to the point of shouting matches and insults is not conducive to expeditious servicing of a claim. It takes two to tango.

Normally, no. But I would also submit that it's not conducive to any type of a business relationship, let alone cordial, to refuse to release funds in escrow ( especially when it was significantly over the amount of the mortgage debt), citing the only reason as "they knew we would use that money for trips", and luxurious purchases instead of rebuilding the house with it, because "that's what people down there in Floriduh were doing" with that much money.

Stonewalling, foot dragging, followed by out and out refusal to release any of that money was their response to our polite requests for even enough to begin our rebuilding process. Requests to speak to managers on our part in response to overt refusals by the mortgage company first line reps led us nowhere, they all sang the same song, "we're keeping your money because of your mortgage and you might default on it" ( that despite the fact that we had never missed a payment, we owed $42,000 on the house and the insurance money they held in escrow amounted to nearly $200,000). And unbelievable as it seems, they wouldn't budge.

So no, one of the partners was clearly not tangoing, but I don't think it was us. Which is why, when they added personal insults to their refusals to even talk to us about releasing some of that money, we got the Florida and Michigan banking regulatory industry involved, and requested ( Michigan State Attorney's office) a criminal investigation of the lender in this matter. That got the lender to release to us the amount of money over and above the mortgage amount, with an agreement to release the rest of it on completed inspections of the house as it was rebuilt.

So as you judge, in righteous indignation, a situation you know nothing about, I might ask you to consider this, given this or a similar situation, what would YOU have done about it?

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Nope, most people will be fine in a hurricane, that is the truth, even in a cat 5 storm, most people will survive, but still you have plenty of notice to leave. Last time I checked 50% of the population weren't wiped out from Andrew lol. Stop being exaggerating babies.

We were all lucky to have survived those hurricane's winds ( although for a while there as Andrew was tearing our house apart I wasn't so sure we would) and no one will dispute that. But we were talking about the difficulties in rebuilding following a direct hit from a major hurricane in a highly populated area, and the more you argue that, the more obvious it becomes that you know nothing about it. Changing the subject, and name calling only highlights your ignorance on the topic.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Calabaza dream

Give it up already. You were wrong and made the wrong assumptions. Many of us who have lived through Andrew, Wilma and know these repairs can take a long time and even contractors with good reputations can take your money and not pay their subcontractors. People are good until they aren't.

It sounds like you don't know what is dealing with hurricane damage and insurance claims. I filed a claim right after Irma and I haven't heard from my insurance yet. They sent an adjuster last weekend. the process is very slow and most likely the insurance company will try to screw us by paying us less than what we should get. They do that because they are in the business of making money and they know many people don't want to go through the process of several inspections and waiting forever. They know how to make money and have the best lawyers and actuaries who know a lot of information about probabilities and human psychology.

I'm sorry to hear that, and I wish I could say I was surprised about the delays in hearing from your insurance company. While I know that they have to be overwhelmed with the number of claims throughout the state and this may be part of the reason for the delays, the insurance industry has changed over the years where protecting their bottom line takes precedence over making their policyholders whole again after a loss.