Anyone dealing with these insurance companies have any advice? Basically 5+ months in, they gave us a proof of loss that is substantially less than the quote any contractor we've brought in has given us. Our initial adjuster from insurance told us we'd get a low ball offer from insurance and that we should try to get it right from the start so we didn't have to go through this constant haggle process. Every time we contact the insurance company they transfer us around, refused to give us their bosses names, and basically can't answer any question whatsoever. Anyone running into these issues and how are you resolving them? The contractors we have dealt with are just as slimy and shady. It's really annoying.
And people wonder why someone would sell meth to pay for medical bills (or hurricane damage). Insurance companies are awesome.
My parents had to fight with their insurance company (which is basically just an underwriter for the NFIP/FEMA) to get FEMA to pay for their work on their house for months. Their inspector/adjuster was just a lazy asshat. So my parents went above their insurance company directly to FEMA and whoever else they could and they were finally paid about a week ago.
Man, sorry to hear. We finally got our checks yesterday. It was a pain. They covered things we thought they wouldn't but they didn't cover things we thought they would. Our main problem was mainly just no communication and at one point our claim was closed on accident. They also made out and mailed our last check to the contractor. Luckily they were honest and gave it to us to mail back. On another note, these city of Houston flood office people seem so lost. We got a citation for no permit in a flood zone but we didn't have electric or plumbing work done. They got us and 1 neighbor but no one else. When i called the lady was so rude. They basically are making everyone who is in the flood zone pay $130 iirc to do any work at all. Like we didn't already have enough to pay for. The lady in line in front of me was just painting and got a red sticker. They want to make sure the houses are fixed up correctly but why the fee?? Sorry to derail. Ha.
I wish you good luck. For some reason Home insurance claims seem especially bad, but I guess that is because the amount of money that has to be paid out especially with a natural disaster. Insurance company is more concerned with making money then helping customers. I had to file a car insurance claim for the first time not to long ago and it was a breeze. I work in a financial institution and have had many people coming in telling me that the Insurance provided low balled them as well on funds to repair the damage to their homes. Some of them later on did receive additional checks though
I had a pretty good experience, though communication was low and the process took a long time. Happy with the payout, though in the itemization I see they missed a few things. It helped that my father is a retired contractor and he helped me get good people to do the work without ripping me off. There are contractors that will take over the insurance company relationship for you. The bad news is that they will take every penny of insurance you have coming. The good news is that they should be able to offload the burden of dealing with insurance and get the house fixed without costing extra. If you're not intending to make money on the whole transaction anyway, that might make sense for you. I also understand there are insurance adjusters you can hire to fight for a better pay out. But, I'm told they aren't often worth the money because they want a percentage of the whole payout, and not of just the additional benefit they wring out. Otherwise, all I can say is be organized and save every photo, receipt, and estimate. If you're going to prevail on the insurance company -- or god forbid the court -- you'll need documentary evidence.
