Failing Foundation Repair Done Under Previous Owner

[Mallory Thompson]

Situation - Before we purchased our current home, it was hit by a drunk driver and the foundation was significantly damaged. The previous owner had a repair done that is now failing. We got the claim information from the previous owner and reached out to their insurance, Safeco who told us to have a structural engineer out to our home to evaluate it. We did that and the engineer told us that the repair should have never been signed off on / was a temporary fix / not done correctly and definitely needs to be fixed. When we sent the report stating this to Safeco, they told us that they couldn't provide coverage, and that by depositing a depreciation check to the owner, that was essentially a sign off of the work (though they never sent the check to the owner and there is no record of sign off). The contractor that performed the work was bought out by another company who claims they are not responsible for the debts or liabilities of said company they absorbed. Our next thought is to file with our insurance and have them either pay or go after the previous insurance company. Ultimately, we're wondering who is responsible for the shoddy repair job especially given that there is no record of sign off. Thanks for any advice.