Hurricane Michael, a personal view...

[Redfish Hunter]

There is just no feeling in the world like having someone kick you in the face while you are already down. I have seen both ends of the insurance adjuster spectrum after a hurricane. Turned out there was a Hurricane Clause in many of the (especially Allstate) homeowner's policies in my area. There was an extra special deductible for a Hurricane. After Katrina and again after Gustav there were a lot of roofs that kept blue tarps in place for over a year following the storm. As you probably already know if a hurricane sends a storm surge and your house floods but you don't have flood insurance, you will be lucky to get anything.

Gustav destroyed my Castle on Wheels. I was instantly a Homeless Person. The adjuster that came was tired, grouchy, mean and very tired of dealing with liars and scammers. She hit me with a few sarcastic lines and dropped a few hints that sent me into a rage. The final straw was when I was explaining how we had used the neighbor/cousininlaw's John Deere to pull the oak limbs out of the roof.

I remember it like it was yesterday...

"And of course you paid him for that right?"

I told her, "Ma'am I am as low as a man can get right now. I don't have a house for my family to live in. As low as I am I still have too much pride to tell lies to someone I don't even know. No I didn't pay him. He helped me and then we went down the road helping everybody else. Nobody paid anybody."

She apologized and I later received a check for more than I had initially paid for the Castle on Wheels. They totaled it and the letter told me I could keep it or sell it but that our contract was terminated, they would no longer insure it.

Insurance is a business but adjusters are human beings. Some good, some bad, some make mistakes and some get it right.

 

[Fred W]

Just found this thread and read through it. Wow. So sorry for all of your troubles, Walt. I’m very impressed with your ability to (at least appear to) stay cool in such circumstances. It’s good to see that you have some experienced resources to call upon for advice in these areas. All I can do is to wish you the best of luck.

 

[hppants]

At this point, I'd have to read your policy declarations to know for sure, but I'm not surprised at your latest post.

1. As R/H points out, you likely have a higher deductible for named windstorms (hurricane/tropical storm). It is usually set as a percentage of the value of your home before the incident. I've seen 2%-5% used by underwriters here. During the last policy renewal, your declarations indicated what the insurance company deemed is the actual cash value of your home, and by signing for the policy, you agreed to their valuation. Whatever that number is determines your windstorm deductible.

2. It looks like the declarations in your policy call for depreciation of your roof based on its age. Again, this is typical for homeowners policies now, although not widely used before Hurricane Katrina. Now, everyone pretty much has this clause. Most policies read that if your roof is less than 10 years old, they pay 100%. Then it depreciates to the general warranty of the roof. 3-tab shingles are usually designed to last 20 years. Architectural shingles, 25-30 years. The Underwriter goes with the manufacturer's data.

3. As indicated before, this is where choosing a contractor that your insurance approves may be the best choice. They will work with your adjuster to make sure you get everything you have coming to you. It's in their best interest to do so because everything they add to the job makes them more money. Furthermore, the adjuster is inclined to trust the contractor more because they have been vetted - the contractor wants to maintain the relationship, so they will not do anything below board in that regard. Many times, the insurance adjuster can be billed directly from the contractor for the supplemental claim, and you're not out of the money waiting.

4. But regardless of 3 above, make sure that you get a copy of EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PAPERWORK. And make sure that your FEMA adjuster knows all of this. They will add whatever your insurance doesn't cover, including your deductible to the FEMA claim.

5. Thinking ahead - all of your contents are valued at Actual Cash Value (ACV). They will be depreciated based on their age at the time of the loss, as compared to their expected life span. This ties to one of my first post where I told you to chart everything in your house that got damaged. Hope you have done that. Unlike the structure part of the claim, I think you should settle the contents directly with the insurance - get a check sent to you for this. Here's why - your contents coverage limit is also shown on your declarations page from the last renewal. Typically, the set the contents limit at about 50% of the structural replacement coverage. With your proper documentation, you will be able to run up (perfectly legally) a pretty big contents claim. Then after you are paid for your contents, you can take a moment to consider if you REALLY want to replace every single thing that was lost. I've seen numerous instances of families taking advantage of the disaster to do some SERIOUS spring cleaning.

6. Again, there is nothing wrong with you keeping the portion of this claim that you don't want to replace. However, you will NOT be able to put this on your FEMA claim. Before FEMA will pay anything, you will have to proof that you are out of the money. IOW - receipts for replacement contents, in this example.

Finally - fear not. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Stay focused and keep moving. PM will be sent with my contact info.

Keep going - you are doing fine.

 

[wfooshee]

Not much new to report other than progress on drying the house. It took two tries to get the mold clearance done, the living room failed the first time, so more drywall came down, and the fridge was shut off and bagged, and the second try (third test overall) passed. I have a roofer lined up, but he hasn't started, yet.

May as well post up some pictures, let you folks know exactly what we're talking about.

First view of the house after the storm. I think this was the evening of the storm, but it might have been the next day, I just don't remember. Seems like I couldn't get out until the water receded from the street where i was holed up, and that didn't happen until the next day, but my phone recorded the date of the picture as the 10th, the day of the storm. Verizon was destroyed, so I think the phone was confused.

This is the back of the house, the northwest corner, which faced the worst of the wind, gusts into the 160s or more. The garage door track came out of the wall and collapsed the door, and you can see how much roof I lost.

Another view of the back. The insurance report came back with "seal and paint" on that siding. Haven't started that fight, yet, but seal and paint is not gonna happen!

Looking into the garage. I'd shoved stuff around enough to get the Miata in there to protect it...

Garage ceiling

Entering the house at the back door, this is the laundry room, open to the weather. Ceiling collapsed, and drywall and blown-in fiberglass is everywhere.

Almost all of my work clothes, freshly laundered just a couple of days before...

Living room carpet, from the kitchen, soaked with rain. The furniture in the living room is pretty much toast, but the electronics, inside the cabinets, seem to have survived. I've been told that I'll have to sanitize stuff before bringing it back into the house.

Dining room ceiling fan. Water followed all of the ceiling wiring into fixtures! This fan still ran and the light still lit (after remove the globe and dumping the water) when the power came back on, we'll see if it lives through the weeks of being packed away.

This is the southeast bedroom, opposite the broken roof. Only a couple of small water marks on the ceiling, the walls were actually dry, but the carpet wicked water from other spaces in the house.

This room, after the carpet and baseboard were pulled, became a "clean room" to temporarily store stuff removed from other rooms. (So did the living room, to a lesser extent.)

Now across the hall, the master bedroom. It has been only a year since I actually completed redoing this room, paint, furniture, bed, the whole nine yards. The bed was a loss, even the headboard and footboard, the furniture might survive, with some cosmetic damages. Stuff in the drawers was actually dry, amazingly enough!

Bedroom ceiling

Master bath. Ceiling stayed up, but it's sagging, and obviously holding water. Also, the roof vent for that fan went away and rainwater poured in through that.

The toilet is directly under that fan.

HVAC closet ceiling fell in, too.

A few days later, rescuing the car. After getting the door out, I had to clean and sweep the floor around the car carefully, as a couple of those cabinets with the little plastic drawers for screws and nails were part of the debris that had fallen on it. The FJR is visible in the background. It got dirty but was undamaged.

The car after getting it out. Amazingly little damage; the top was not punctured, although one rib might be bent. The drywall and fiberglass all washed off, and there are several scuffs and a few dents to talk to Progressive about.

A few days later, the mold has started.

The paint even ran!

Mold assessment lady photographing the moisture meter pegged at 100%

Carpet is out, drywall coming down

Master bedroom after cleanup

The kitchen... The guy in black would be facing the stove if it was there, you can see the range hood exhaust still hanging down. The sink was behind him under the bay window, and the fridge was where the white broom is.
Not only carpet, but the sheet flooring had to come up, to ensure complete water removal.

The best I can do for now with the garage.

Final drying. The house was divided into three zones; the laundry room by itself, the living/dining/kitchen area, and the hallway with the bathrooms and bedrooms, and dryers ran for almost a month!

I've got a Flickr album with lots more pictures, both of the house and of the local area. You can see that here if you're interested.

 

[Fred W]

I feel so bad for you, Walt. Nobody needs to go through something like that. Makes our little blizzards up here seem so trivial.

It must have been awfully tempting to call a bulldozer in.

 

[wfooshee]

I was wondering why they didn't! At the beginning, I was seriously wondering why they were even trying.

 

[CraigRegs]

Wow, that had to be SO disheartening when you first returned. But it appears to be solid, and certainly could have been much worse. I hope recovery and rebuilding goes smoothly and you can get back to the new normal as soon as possible.

 

[Fred W]

I was wondering why they didn't! At the beginning, I was seriously wondering why they were even trying.

It seems like what they are salvaging is the foundation slab, the brick walls, and the wood framing. After you strip everything out, and rebuild from the outside inward, it will be almost like a new house. But damn, what a way to get a new house.

I don’t know your situation, but have you ever considered getting out of hurricane alley? Now may be a good opportunity if you can get the insurance co to buy you out.

 

[hppants]

Not yet, would be my advice.

The speculators will be along soon enough, if they haven't already. The market is super depressed, but it will return in a few years or sooner and when it does, there will be a run on housing. If you throw in the towel now, you will loose you rear end. Stay the course, fix the house, and calm down for a year or two when you can then think more clearly and the market will rebound.

I can't see anything of concern regarding the rebuilding effort so far.

Regarding flooring, consider the vinyl planks or even ceramic tile if you are inclined. The vinyl planks look very nice and are excellent against flooding, if you are prone to that.

Again, if you are inclined to stay, consider the energy efficient ideas shared previously. You'll get it back in electricity savings and the upgrade is cheap now.

Finally, regarding the siding, I can't tell what that material is. If that is tranzite (or similar), than it may contain asbestos. If you are considering replacing it, then please take good care with that material. I can help you with the particulars of that if necessary.

It's hard to see Walt, but time will heal your wound. It will, trust me. You're doing just fine. Keep going and take resolve that you and your FJR are in tact. Better days are ahead, my friend.

 

[wfooshee]

The siding on the back and the gables is T1-11. I don't really know if it's the plywood or waferboard variety. House was built in 1982. Several panels are loose, even on the south end of the house (sheltered from the worst of the wind.) "Seal and paint" isn't gonna cut it!

Not planning on dumping the house. As for the roof, I'm not seeing anything about the age and any sliding scale of replacement cost. There are three declarations, dwelling structure, other structures, and personal property, and all three are replacement cost (as opposed to actual cash value, which is listed as a separate choice.) Hurricane deductible is 2%. Replacement cost is, of course, like for like. They won't put granite countertops in place of my Formica, or marble tile in the foyer.

By the way, mold testing is EXPENSIVE!!!! 1140 bucks at the beginning, again after cleaning, and $500 for the one repeat test that still failed after the cleaning.

 

[hppants]

It's expensive, but keep in mind that the laws of supply and demand don't go away because you had a storm. EVERYTHING is super expensive over there now.

The declarations aren't where you find specifics regarding the roof. The devil's in the details - the exclusions part.

Regarding the granite/marble issues (and any other upgrades you are contemplating), look at this way. You are planning to stay. The upgrade is on sale. If the replacement cost of the formica is $2500, and the granite is $10,000, then you can get your granite for $7,500. And also, remember that as long as you can attest (and prove) that you performed the work in a manner that is code compliant, you are more than welcome to do the work yourself, saving the labor. Just spit balling here - but if the fictitious example about the granite, the general rule of thumb is 1/2 material, 1/2 labor. So for discussion sake - the labor for the job is $5,000.00. Now do it your self and the $10,000 granite job only cost you $2,500.

This concept can work VERY WELL in your favor when it comes down to the contents portion of the claim (personal property). This stuff is insured at Actual Cash Value., which is depreciated based on its useful life span and its age at the time of the storm. So for some things that you are intending to replace, it's going to cost you a little to get a replacement because you have to eat the depreciation. The consolidation here is that you now have a brand new item in your house.

But there will be TONS of things that you have no intention of replacing. Stuff that you have been keeping just to keep. We all do this. Now look at this as a HUGE Spring cleaning and de-cluttering of your house. For all of those things, you get paid for the ACV, but you can keep the money and use it toward your depreciation for what you actually replace, your deductible, upgrades on your house, etc.

But the way to maximize this is to make sure you have a documented record of every single item that was damaged, as outlined in my first post. Again, this is critical - and I've see people in storm recovery use it to get a ton of money (legitimately) from their insurance claim that they would not have gotten otherwise. By the way - the by product of the contents deal is that down the road, many people find some comfort in the simplification of their lives. They have less, but they really needed less and now they have less to worry about, less to clean, less to maintain, and in this case, less means more. It's free-ing. It's a real thing - I vividly remember one person telling me that until the storm, they didn't realize that they were essentially living in a landfill. The storm washed the crap away and they feel cleaner now. I'll never forget the look on her face - she was very sincere.

Don't forget to work the riders on your policy for temporary housing, storage for your undamaged materials, etc. If the adjuster doesn't need receipts, and you stayed with friends, file for the cost and take the money without guilt.

And don't forget that you can fall back to FEMA for any of your loss that was not paid by insurance proceeds. I'm not sure about the actual FEMA declaration for Hurricane Michael, and in all honestly, FEMA hasn't likely gotten fully in gear yet regarding what they are going to ultimately do. Never the less, stay the course there and keep ALL records to submit to your FEMA claim. If rule follow thumb, you'll get some of your cost back (depreciation for contents, deductible, etc). Also, out of pocket for temporary housing, etc. Again, FEMA won't pay you to make your house better, but your can play the shell game with funds and claims and close the gap quite a bit. And yet again - all legitimate and legal. You just have to know how to work the system. And do it without guilt - you are ENTITLED to these funds. There's no other way to put it. This country pisses money on stuff like it's water. Don't feel one iota of guilt over any of this.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

 

[wfooshee]

Update time, after 3-1/2 months!

I have a roof! That's all! nothing else has happened, yet.

The roof was completed just before Christmas, passed inspection the first try. House still isn't perfectly dry, as the back doors both leak, and I think some windows, do, too. I can't be bothered to drive over there while it's raining, though...

Sure looks out of place on that beat-up shack!!!

I know that the light color is going to streak from all the piercings as it weathers, and I don't care. I wanted a lighter color roof.

I've had 3 contractors come look at the house, all promising to get their packages to me "by next weekend," never heard back from any of them, never got responses to "Hey! Where are you?" emails. Two of those were quite blatant about how they could get whatever I needed from my insurance, because they had lawyers and stuff. In other words, more people to pay. The third was promising, though, and had an honest air, but seemed a little disorganized and overwhelmed (which truthfully, is understandable with the amount of work needed around here.) So anyway, there's been nothing new done to the house since gutting and roofing. The plastic moisture barriers I pictured earlier are still in place.

Then last week my roofer called and said they were ready to start general remodel work now, had I gotten anybody and gotten started, yet? They were doing roofing only at first, because of the need, even though they are a general contractor. I liked the job on the roof, they did everything they said they would. I've got the peel-and-stick underlayment now, and architectural shingles instead of 3-tab, so it's much more wind-resistant, and the nailing, ridge vent, strapping, and all are current code! Hope to see a good drop in my homeowner's! (Most companies wouldn't even cover me because I couldn't prove my roof was less than 30 years old. House was built in '82, but reroofed after Opal in '95, although no permits exist for that in city records, so while it's less than 25 years old, all the companies assume it's 36 years, and won't cover it. I've had a hefty premium because of that, much like drivers with lots of tickets getting car insurance. (I've known the house needed a roof, but I also knew it wasn't as old as everyone thought, because it was nearly new when I bought the place in '99. Anyway, until the 2nd mortgage I needed to get the ex off the deed is finished in a couple more years, I had no place to get roofing funds. That's how close i was to roofing it anyway!)

Rambled off the subject, sorry. The roofing contractor called, asked if I'd had the other work done or started, yet. I tole him, "No, come on down!" We spent three hours going through the house Tuesday, with the original scope in hand. They're working up an Exactimate of their own. They were also very frank about what could or couldn't be thrown at the insurance company. The contractor agrees that the T111 on the back of the house has to go, maybe new T111, hopefully new hardy board, but Florida's matching statute won't force ALL of the T111 to go (gables and porch face) because T111 is not unavailable. Basically, the statute says if the material originally used is not available, then a partial repair of only the affected area is insufficient, all material that matched the damaged area must be replaced so you don't have a "quilted" house. It applies to siding and roofing. The previous guys who looked were all gung-ho about yeah, we can get them to change all of it! This guy was clear, no they won't do all of it unless T111 suddenly goes off the market! (Which it should, if you ask me!

) So I'm confident from my history with this company that good work is coming up. They were very thorough in their measurements, photographs, and questions about what was here before, is that what you want or do you want to change something?

As a complete non sequitor, the Panama City utilities people are smoking crack. There were obvious difficulties with meter reading in the immediate aftermath. Apparently those difficulties persist, as they've been using history to generate water bills. Really? No one's in the house, the valve is shut off, and you're billing me by past usage? They've been good about writing off the bill when i take it in and attest that it's wrong, not even a good guess, but this last one really takes the cake. Apparently their guesswork carries forward month to month, as the last bill shows me using 2000 gallons, and has "meter readings" in the right places on the bill. I opened the cover and looked at the reading, and it's still slightly less than the start reading of the 2000-gallon bill. And my valve is still closed! If I were vindictive, I'd feel a class-action coming on, because people are paying these bills!! So while power and gas bills are microscopic compared to history, basically just the fees for having the service, the water bill is about the same, or even higher. And did I mention, the valve is closed?

 

[Panman]

Wow! What a long process for you to have to endure. Thanks for the up date.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Walt, thanks for the update. I was wondering how things were going. This is not where I hoped you would be.

How the hell do you fit in that Miata? Aren't you about the same size as Panman?

The T-111 siding really isn't bad stuff, depending on the finish and the installation. Maybe going with a different color paint afterwards would change the look?

Your water bill reminded me of a little battle I had with the local telephone company after Hurricane Gustav. They were charging us for service even though there was no dwelling here. We negotiated with them and they dropped it to a $25 per month charge. For 6 months. Couldn't do any longer than that they said.

Finally, new house is built and I am ready to have the phone cable connected to the house. Wife calls and gets nowhere after a 30 minute conversation. They insist the phone is hooked up and working. The wire is hanging off the pole in the front yard where I tie wrapped it after the storm. I ask Wife to call again. After 30+ minutes, wife is frustrated and refuses to speak to them again. I call. Lady says phone is connected, I have service. I ask her how many calls have been on that number in the last year. She keeps repeating that the phone is connected and the problem is within my house. I keep reminding her of the fact that we had a HURRICANE and that there was no house there for over a year. I keep telling her that the wire is hanging off the pole, I am looking at it. She keeps repeating that the phone is connected. We are both out of patience.

She finally tells me, "I will dispatch a tech but if the problem is inside your house YOU will have to pay!" I ask if the problem is outside will she be willing to pay... Tell her I would LOVE to have a tech come out.

Fast forward, the day that we are to have our final inspection. The EATEL van is parked in the end of my driveway. I am parked in the road. I have 3 vehicles behind me. Then the Inspector pulls up. We are all in the road, I have a 2 acre lot but the EATEL tech is blocking the end of the driveway. I politely ask him to move, he is in the driver's seat doing paperwork. He REFUSES to move. REFUSES. Redfish finally lost his temper. I tell him to move or I will move him and I will have him and anyone else in an EATEL uniform arrested if they ever set foot back on my property. He starts to get out of the van and then decided he was safer inside it.

I still never got my phone lines, went with another company. Still want to exact revenge.

Sorry, but I do feel for you over there. You aren't alone.

 

[wfooshee]

By the way, I have a Flickr album of before/after shots, where I've taken some of my shots around the area and set them next to Google Street View of the same place. Some of the afters were taken the afternoon of the hurricane after things calmed down, and I've been continuing in the intervening months. Picture descriptions give the timelines. Just a single pair, as an example:

It's a lot of pictures, but I'd really like you all to have a look, because nobody who's not here has a clue! We dropped out of the news cycle as soon as the California fires started, and it's never come back to us. THIS IS THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF DEBRIS GENERATED BY A HURRICANE IN U.S. HISTORY!!!

First, I have to tell you what a cubic ton is, because it sounds stupid. How can you have a cubic weight? But it's a genuine volume measure of timber, equivalent to 40 cubic feet, so about 2/3rds more than a cubic yard. I didn't know this before the storm, and when I saw an article quoting a politician using the unit, I commented with something along the lines of "WTF is a cubic ton?!?!?" and was educated. Publicly.

Bay County (just my county, not including incorporated areas, and not the total for Florida) is expected to reach 20 million cubic tons of debris removal. For comparison, the FIFTY-county total for Irma in 2017 was 2.5 million cubic tons. Maria, also 2017, created over 6 million cubic tons of debris in Puerto Rico, an area 3.5 times the size of Bay County.

Panama City's entire annual budget is about 90 million dollars. Panama City's debris removal costs are expected to exceed 110 million, which amounts to decades worth of what would be considered emergency money in the budget. Panama City is by far the most populous city in the county, so other communities, with debris costs approaching that number, are actually seeing several years' worth of their annual budgets needed for debris removal alone.

And none of that debris removal expense has anything to do with rebuilding anything.

The woods around here all look like this, now:

That's rural. Now imagine this inside the town, with just as many trees, along with buildings and roads. If you've peeked at my album, you don't have to imagine...

The devastation here is the same as you see in a huge midwestern tornado. The difference is, that tornado might affect an area a mile or so wide, maybe 5 or 10 miles long. 20 miles if it's really bad. Michael left tornado-like destruction for over 100 miles, 50 miles wide! It was still a category 3 when it reached Macon, Georgia! Here's an overhead before/after:

Here's a thermal image of surface temperatures, clearly showing the effect of defoliation:

Red Cross, United Way, etc., haven't even reached a decent percentage here of the efforts they made after Irma. Nothing is coming in! Celebrities, always quick to be seen "helping" or at least promoting help, have been non-existent. We don't even bear mentioning.

Folks, this was the third strongest hurricane is US history, after Camille and the Labor Day hurricane of 1935, and nobody knows about it. Everybody knows Andrew, Irma, Harvey, Florence, Katrina, and all of those. Michael was worse. Wind speed was slightly lower than Andrew, but Michael's barometric pressure was lower than any of them.

So have a look at my Flickr album, and if we're FB friends, as many of you are, you've seen a lot of my posts and shares on this.

 

[TomInPA]

Amazing pictures, and I'm surprised at how much remains to be done. I was in Marathon the Spring following Irma, and there was little evidence of the storm's passing until you got down to Deer Key. Relatively little infrastructure damage, even on the vulnerable strip of land. Michael is out of the news cycle entirely, and a lot remains to be done there. It looks like you might be getting close to having a livable house. I missed what you are doing for living accommodations while the work continues at your home.

 

[wfooshee]

I have a customer's camping trailer set up behind the office. Full hook-ups and 30A service.

 

[hppants]

Bump-a-rumpsie!

Was thinking about this today and wondering - what news of the rebuilding progress?

And how can I help?

 

[wfooshee]

Nothing new, actually. I do have a contractor lined up for the interior rebuild, but he and the insurance company are so far apart he doesn't want to start. I'm trying to get the insurance to send another adjuster, because his first look was so far short of what the house needs.

I got that initial check from the insurance, of which I still have about two-thirds. I had an AoB with the water people, and they've been paid separately. I hit my mold limit of 10K, which sucks, because there's another thousand or 2 over that in mold remediation. Even though it's not a standalone mold claim and was directly caused by the hurricane damage, they can still apply the limit. (Insurance companies own the legislature, and have no responsibility whatsoever to the consumer.) I paid for the roof and submitted the difference and got a check for that, then repaired my credit card!

Talking with the insurance guy on the phone, telling him how much the contractor says it's going to cost vs what their initial estimate was, his answer was, "Well our guy was pretty thorough!" Still trying to get them to send another adjuster to have another look at the gutted house rather than the wet soggy house he looked at.

Basically, I don't want to start until the contractor and insurance company are on a much closer level with each other. Contractor says it's gonna be close to 100K to finish the house, insurance guy doesn't think so.

I cannot hire a public adjuster. I have no resources with which to pay one, and you can't force your insurance to pay them. So even if a public adjuster gets me settled and back into the house satisfactorily, I'd owe him anywhere from 15 to 20K, which is basically taking another mortgage out to get what should already be coming to me.

I simply DO NOT understand the concept of recoverable depreciation. The amount paid by the insurance check is less some "recoverable depreciation" amount that they say I can get back when I show receipts for the repairs. My understanding is that I don't have to show one damn receipt. As far as I know, I don't even have to repair the house. I DO have to get paid the REPLACEMENT COST of what the repairs would be.

I haven't even started on contents, yet. They want a list of items, what I paid for them, and what they're worth now. There is no possible way to know any of that. My coverage is not actual value, it's replacement cost. I need new furniture, they buy new furniture. I need new clothes, they buy new clothes. Seems pretty simple, but it's Act-of-Congress hoops to jump through, and I simply don't speak "insurance" or "contracting." I am clueless, and getting impatient.

I am not unique with this in this area. There are houses that are just now beginning the initial cleanup. Debris trucks are still making rounds to collect cut-down trees and building debris. There are apartment complexes that stand vacant while repairs are being made, or just waiting for repairs to start. There are not enough people to do the work needed in the community. There's basically nowhere for them to stay; housing, either rental or hotel, simply doesn't exist. A realtor friend of mine posted on his FB a few weeks ago that there were four rental properties available in Bay County. FOUR!!!

Our hospitals are still mostly closed, with ERs open and limited beds. The medical office building at both hospitals are unusable, with doctors sharing office space with those folks who have usable offices. Banks are running out of trailers in the parking lots, or just keeping branches closed. Many businesses are still closed, both for lack of staffing and for lack of usable offices. Some business owners are making do by running out of their homes (or wherever they're actually staying.) Traffic light repair is still incomplete, with some intersections on timers instead of sensors, so you sit there for three minutes watching nothing happen. The Panama City Mall is dead, with one anchor store open, another under repair and planning to reopen, and Sears just threw in the towel. (Turns out the anchor stores owned their parts of the building rather than renting the space.) The rest of the mall is dead, and there are no plans to repair. I have no idea what's in line for redevelopment. Publix stores are open, but no Winn-Dixie stores have re-opened. They tried to have limited grocery availability out of their liquor stores, but that got shut down by the state pretty quickly, even as an emergency measure. can't sell food and spirits in form the same facility!

 

[hppants]

Thank you for replying to my inquiry. I'm sorry that you are having challenges, but hope that the end is closer than the beginning, and that you will find the energy to press on through the pain.

1. You policy has a mold exclusion. If you can prove (via photographs) that the current mold situation was made worse by the insurance company's failure to move quickly to help you remediate the mold that was caused by the insurable loss, then the insurance company can pay for that. Your angle here might be that their adjuster's estimate was so far off from the real world, the ensuing "discussion" among all parties (which must be provable via emails and other documentation) got us in a delay that caused more mold to form.

2. Don't discount the idea that the contractor you wish to use is using this situation to gouge people. I hope the contractor is not a personal friend of yours, and if so, I respectfully apologize for the accusation. Be that as it may, Hurricane recovery is one way for less than honest contractors to rip people (and insurance companies) off. Again, as suggested before, ask the adjuster if they have a list of pre-approved contractors that you might get a second opinion from regarding the cost. If not, then do a little research and find another contractor to get your own second opinion. And a 3rd opinion if possible. Go to areas of town that clearly have some activity. Walk up to the contractor on the job and ask him to get you an estimate. Be prepared to hear "I'm too busy right now". Then go to the next one, and the one after that. This exercise will do one of two things: (1) It will prove to the insurance company that their estimate was too low, as 3 estimates in the same range are not all likely to be rip-offs. or (2) it will prove that your guy was a bit high.

3. You can also ask your insurance company to hire the contractor and fix your house. Then the riff between the contractor and the actual cost can occur without you being a party to it. Wash your hands of it. Tell the insurance company that your policy pays to put it back the way it was, and for them to do it and call you when it's done. And BTW - they can put you in a temporary housing until then.

4. If you have replacement cost coverage for your contents, then they have to pay to replace it. But there are two conditions: You have to prove the loss and you have to prove the value. This is why I suggested at the beginning that you grab a buddy and start photographing and documenting (via table) every single content you have lost. Even if you don't have the receipts for the content, if you are reasonable in your estimated value and replacement value (don't declare a $5.00 dish towel as being worth $50.000, they will work with you. In fact, the insurance company will likely just cut you a check for the total estimated replacement value, and you can decide whether or not to actually replace the item, opting instead to use the difference to help pay for some of your other non-insurable loss (mold???). For your high-dollar contents (Electronics, large furniture, etc), they may dig in, but the adjuster can help you with that. Trust me - the 15-20 hours it will take to generate this documentation will be rewarded multi-fold. Please re-consider. If you have thrown away contents, but have pictures, then sit down and generate the table based on the pictures. If you have thrown away contents, and have no pictures, well - that's going to be very challenging.

5. Remember that you are going to get an opportunity to file a FEMA claim (if you haven't already). Do that immediately and make it clear the out of pocket cost you have (anything that your insurance doesn't cover). There will be a Federal program down the road aimed at mitigating against a future loss, but initially you should have a FEMA claim started for your uninsurable loss.

I sense and feel your frustration. It's still a war zone over there, and it's hot as hell, and the vibe is a downer. I've BTDT. But please don't lose encouragement. People said that New Orleans would never (EVER) be the same. In 3 years, it was better - a LOT better. There is as much political will to bring Panama City and Pensacola back as there was (and still is) to bring NOLA back. But you've got to stand tall and face the wind - tell yourself that it's a marathon and eat the elephant one bite at a time. In the end, you'll shit the trunk out and it will be done.

You have my cell number. It's on and available 24/7, my friend.