Home owners insurance...it's a must

[mwk522]

Sorry to hear that, Glad you and yours are ok, Thank the LORD!!

[sunfan1121]

Why isn't the insurance company moving you into a little town home or duplex? 2 months sounds like a long time to be living in a hotel room.

[cpxxx]

Agreed home insurance is vital. We rented out our house for a while. The insurance expired just before Christmas and in all the fuss we overlooked it. Meanwhile Ireland was hit by the coldest Christmas in living memory, minus 8 to minus 13 degrees centigrade. Which is very rare here.

After Christmas our sister in law turned up. She had an empty house in the same area. She walked into a flood after the checking it out. I said it's lucky our Lithuanian tenants were in place and we had heard nothing from them. At this point my wife interjected. 'No, they've gone home to Lithuania for Christmas.'  A mad dash to the house was rewarded with the sound of trickling water before we even got in the door. We were lucky, another day and it might have been collapsed ceilings etc. The plumber found fifteen separate breaks in the pipes. Beds, furniture, paint, tenants clothes ruined. No insurance

In the end it only cost us a couple of grand but it could have been worse. Lesson learned the hard way.

[uptown]

Why isn't the insurance company moving you into a little town home or duplex? 2 months sounds like a long time to be living in a hotel room.

They're trying but where we live (southern Iowa) there's not too many choices to be had. The insurance company has a company out of Arizona working on finding us a place within a 3 to 5 mile radius of our home, but finding someone willing to rent for just 2 or 3 months may prove difficult.
There's only 2 motels in this town, no condos and only 1 apartment complex. The motel living doesn't really bother me too much as I've been through a lot worse over the coarse of my 48 years. But my main concern is keeping the wife and kids from going stir crazy while this whole process unfolds. One good thing is the wife and I both have good jobs to go to and school just started so the kids have something to do during the day.

[ROC]

Better hope the insurance company doesn't deem to make it up as replacement value.

Depends on the policy and how it is written.  Many policies don't have code upgrades and such automatically built in. Very important to read the policy and know what you are buying.  Just like auto insurance, you can get gap coverage, you can get replacement cost or actual value which can include depreciation.

Many people buy the cheapest then don't understand why nothing get's fixed. 

Uptown, I have done a lot of work with Servpro, generally a good company, hope this goes by quickly for you.  Hang in there, I've gone behind more fire damaged homes than I care to remember, it's not a pleasant situation and having a good company behind you makes a big difference.

[Bodhi]

I understand well ROC.  Regardless of how it is written, many insurance companies will wiggle as best they can to avoid a full reimbursement.  They have retained attorneys for this purpose whereas you will pay out of pocket.  I've seen and heard of hundreds of cases in the NOLA area to know well that the insurance companies will always wriggle to get off of paying if they suspect they can.

[uptown]

Unfortunately I have replacement cost coverage and not actual cash value. But to make up the difference in the cost of the cabinets and countertops, I plan on doing the work myself and going with the unfinished cabinets to cut the cost even more. Using the moneys they pay me for my labor to make up the difference. Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade the quality of materials by doing this. The same for the carpeting and paint.
As far as the kitchen appliances, I'll probably just have to bite the bullet and pay the difference. If I can get Servpro to clean the mess up, remove the smoke smell, gut the kitchen, hang the drywall,and replace the roof, I can handle the rest i.e. appliances, installing cabinets, countertops, carpet and paint.

[Colt44]

Sorry to hear about the fire Up...tough times indeed.  Glad to hear you and yours are safe.  Good Insurance is a necessary evil for sure.

[Bodhi]

Unfortunately I have replacement cost coverage and not actual cash value. But to make up the difference in the cost of the cabinets and countertops, I plan on doing the work myself and going with the unfinished cabinets to cut the cost even more. Using the moneys they pay me for my labor to make up the difference. Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade the quality of materials by doing this. The same for the carpeting and paint.
As far as the kitchen appliances, I'll probably just have to bite the bullet and pay the difference. If I can get Servpro to clean the mess up, remove the smoke smell, gut the kitchen, hang the drywall,and replace the roof, I can handle the rest i.e. appliances, installing cabinets, countertops, carpet and paint.

Uptown,
What is the language with regards to replacement value?  IE. does it specify age, or are they setting a cap at value like; >1 year = 100%, 1 - 3 years = 90%, 3 - 5 = 75%?  Very curious to know.

I wish you luck.

[uptown]

Uptown,
What is the language with regards to replacement value?  IE. does it specify age, or are they setting a cap at value like; >1 year = 100%, 1 - 3 years = 90%, 3 - 5 = 75%?  Very curious to know.

I wish you luck.

I can't find that in my policy except for the phase, "we will pay the cost to repair or replace less depreciation at the time of loss". I guess this is where I'll get the shaft  I'll see what happens I guess.

Oh well what can ya do <shrugs>? Thankfully I have a good job

And thanks to all you guys for the well wishes and concerns.   

[mbailey]

I can't find that in my policy except for the phase, "we will pay the cost to repair or replace less depreciation at the time of loss". I guess this is where I'll get the shaft   I'll see what happens I guess.

Oh well what can ya do <shrugs>? Thankfully I have a good job

And thanks to all you guys for the well wishes and concerns.  

You should be fine.......if you have replacment cost, your items will still be subject to depreciation over a certain amount of the loss (my company is $2500) But the difference is, as long as you do the repairs, and spend the money, provide reciepts.....you get to recover the depreciation.  Depreciation is a very subjective thing, usually based on age and wear of an item. As an adjuster i normally ask the people how old things are...but if i know its gonna hurt them when it comes to the depreciation, ill make it less....reason is, 5yrold carpet in a house with 5 kids and 3 dogs, is going to be in much worse shape than 5yrold carpet in my grandmothers house..........There is alot of subjectivity in recoverabvle Depreciation.
Normally things like cabinets and counters dont depreciate that much, as they dont wear out, where carpet and paint do, personal property damaged is also subject to it...and that can be a bit heavy..so word to the wize, make sure you include EVERYTHING that was damaged..from the stove, to the open box of spagetti in the cabinets....(dont laugh, im serious...every little bit helps).........Other thing to do is check the estimate and see if they include Overhead and Profit (OHP)....With all the trades its going to take to rebuild your home, normally insurance companies will include something called OHP, this is based on the subtotal of the estimate, and is 10% of same added in twice...10%Overhead....10%Profit.....this offsets the costs for using a General Contractor. On a 2000 loss its peanuts (400)....but on a 40,000 rebuild, it can be as much as $8000 extra due to you, to offset the cost of using a GC......I could get really long winded here, Shot you my phone #, lets chat sir  

In the mean time ill check out some Iowa insurance practices and laws. ......Im extremely familiar with the program they (State Farm) use to right construction estimates (Xactimate)...................Ill keep digging