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Replacing a mattress and painting walls that were not damaged are 2 different things. Yes, replacement of a damaged mattress will be at replacement cost because obviously you don't have that item any more but wanting walls that were not damaged to be repainted isn't replacing anything so why should they pay to have them painted??
You are asking for improvements to areas that were not damaged. If you have a 200 year old house I hope you have an endorsement to replace it to 200 year old standards--meaning 200 year old wood floors, woodwork, etc.
You don't know that your carpet has mold or if it will mold. If you have taken the proper steps to prevent that--fans, pulling up the carpet, etc. and it does mold, they will replace that. I'm lost why the company didn't do that in the first place and why you didn't ask the environmental company about that when they were there if they had pulled back the carpeting in all the other rooms??
Again, you don't have the report yet, you don't know what they are going to replace and what they are not yet. Until you do, it's not worth stressing over and like I said, if this one claims adjuster is off base, they will send out another adjuster at your request.
Thanks for your input.
This is going to be a learning process for me, that's for sure.
The carpet was pulled back in all of the rooms, padding removed, fans & dehumidifiers put in to place. What happened was that when they came back to take moisture readings on Monday, they noticed that the carpet in my child's room wasn't drying out, and neither was the wall in his closet. So they pulled the carpet up in his closet and stuck a fan in it.
Today (5 days after the issue occurred) they were back to take more readings. We've only had one fan and one humidifier removed so far. His carpet is still wet, as is the carpet in the basement.
Our contractor also came over this afternoon to take a look around so he can give us an estimate. I don't know if it is because we're getting used to the odor that we were kind of surprised when he got halfway down the basement stairs and said, "You don't smell that? This has to go, this carpet stinks". And I had just had every carpet in the house cleaned the week before Christmas. We have no pets and don't wear shoes in the house. When he went upstairs to my child's room, he said the same thing. He doesn't install carpet so he would have no monetary gain if carpets were replaced.
Both carpets are a patterned berber, so I don't know if the fibers would retain moisture longer than a pile carpet, but it would seem to me that they could. In the meantime I'm going to find out if/how mold can be detected in carpeting before you see it.
You're right, we have no idea what the insurance company is going to do and have to wait until then.
We had some storm damage a few years ago and the adjuster was out immediately. He did a preliminary calculation and cut us a check right then to get the repairs started. He also said that if we discovered any hidden damage that he may have overlooked or that the repair costs were higher than he estimated then he would send a check to cover the difference.
After the work was done and we totaled up the repair costs there was about a $2500.00 difference. The insurance company requested a copy of the bills and then sent us a check about 14 days later for the extra costs. It pays to have a good insurance company.
Ours is AAARP/Harford in case you wanted to know.
PS: We did not follow him around with our nose in his business. I think they appreciate that.
Wow! That's good.
The basement and garage were pretty straightforward - I just showed him the doors to get to those areas. Upstairs was a little more complicated, so I more or less "led" him around. I had to show him the bedrooms, the closet, the vanity drawers that had buckled. He had quite a few questions too because this bathroom was just remodeled and he wanted to know what happened to the paint (wasn't painted yet), the trim (wasn't installed yet) so I stuck around to answer. I also had a few of my own questions. I didn't follow him around when he was making his sketches/lists and taking measurements, LOL!
I had a storm blow vinyl siding off my house a few years back the adjuster the insurance company sent out did his estimating and said the damage was to the tune of $3200. I balked at that figure as i knew I would wind up replacing all the siding. I complained and he offered me another $400. I got out the phone book and called a certified independent insurance adjuster. he worked for me not the insurance company. He came out and did an estimate detaiing much more damage. long story short He got me a check from the insurance company for $7900. He charged me 15% of the difference between the $3600 and $7900. (7900-3600=4000 x.15=600) he walked away with $600. He came out for free and said if he couldn't get me more money there would be no charge to me. once I agreed he did all the dealings with my own insurance company. probably the best $600 bucks i have ever spent. go to the yellow pages look under independent insurance adjusters and call a few up. you have nothing to lose. just what ever you do don't cash the check you insurance company gives till you have reached an equitable settlement!!! The more money he gets for you them more money he will make off the job
I had a storm blow vinyl siding off my house a few years back the adjuster the insurance company sent out did his estimating and said the damage was to the tune of $3200. I balked at that figure as i knew I would wind up replacing all the siding. I complained and he offered me another $400. I got out the phone book and called a certified independent insurance adjuster. he worked for me not the insurance company. He came out and did an estimate detaiing much more damage. long story short He got me a check from the insurance company for $7900. He charged me 15% of the difference between the $3600 and $7900. (7900-3600=4000 x.15=600) he walked away with $600. He came out for free and said if he couldn't get me more money there would be no charge to me. once I agreed he did all the dealings with my own insurance company. probably the best $600 bucks i have ever spent. go to the yellow pages look under independent insurance adjusters and call a few up. you have nothing to lose. just what ever you do don't cash the check you insurance company gives till you have reached an equitable settlement!!! The more money he gets for you them more money he will make off the job
Thank you for that advice!
Our contractor suggested we do the same if we're not happy with what the insurance company offers us & if they won't bend.
That entirely depends on your insurance policy, it can be cash value or replacement costs. If you don't know what you have you better check it. I've been through a house fire and if you don't have replacement cost insurance you're going to be in for a rude awakening if you have a fire or other catastrophic loss.
I've heard a lot of horror stories but in our case the insurance company was outstanding, we had Erie. They totaled the entire house and the contents, the first thing they did was send an inventory specialist. She and her assistant counted everything in the house they could and when I say everything I mean everything, she went through a desk and even counted how many boxes of rubber bands there were. In the rooms that were destroyed we had to make up a list of items. After she was done they sent us an inventory sheet that was like 300 pages single spaced small type, there was two values listed for each item. One was for the replacement cost or what it would cost to buy a new or similar item and the other was for the cash value. The cash value was typically 20 to 30%....
I just have State Farm Insurance, and in the claim forms I entered how much I paid and date of purchase of the damaged items, and the replacement cost in the next line. I got the replacement cost from the local stores. For example, lost an older iMac computer to the fire. When I purchased the computer I paid $1,100. But since a 2011 iMac cost $1,100, that's the number I entered in the replacement cost. A mattress that cost $800.00 when I bought it, cost $1,000 in 2011 when i had the house fire, and that was the replacement cost paid by the insurance company.
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I also agree with others that the insurance does not cover areas or items that were not damaged or lost to a fire, flood, and so forth.
I just have State Farm Insurance, and in the claim forms I entered how much I paid and date of purchase of the damaged items, and the replacement cost in the next line. I got the replacement cost from the local stores.
We didn't have to do any of that, the only thing we had to do was submit inventory sheets for stuff in rooms that were destroyed. The value of the contents was above the value of the policy so they cut a check for the max amount. It was actually a few checks over a few months, first check they wrote as the house was still smoldering. Ir was small but if you're in situation like that you start going through money quickly. I can't say enough good things about that insurance company, they even paid for things beyond what they required. We had a rental and the new house wasn't quite done yet and they extended the rent for one month.
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I also agree with others that the insurance does not cover areas or items that were not damaged or lost to a fire, flood, and so forth.
I don't know about yours but that screwed up everything, I don't think there was a single thing in that entire house that didn't stink.
I had a storm blow vinyl siding off my house a few years back the adjuster the insurance company sent out did his estimating and said the damage was to the tune of $3200. I balked at that figure as i knew I would wind up replacing all the siding. I complained and he offered me another $400. I got out the phone book and called a certified independent insurance adjuster. he worked for me not the insurance company. He came out and did an estimate detaiing much more damage. long story short He got me a check from the insurance company for $7900. He charged me 15% of the difference between the $3600 and $7900. (7900-3600=4000 x.15=600) he walked away with $600. He came out for free and said if he couldn't get me more money there would be no charge to me. once I agreed he did all the dealings with my own insurance company. probably the best $600 bucks i have ever spent. go to the yellow pages look under independent insurance adjusters and call a few up. you have nothing to lose. just what ever you do don't cash the check you insurance company gives till you have reached an equitable settlement!!! The more money he gets for you them more money he will make off the job
^^^^ THIS. Do not even bother with anything else. The company I worked for had damage after Hurricane Andrew and the public adjuster saved it.
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