One Property, Two Separate Insurance Policies

[Anthony Gayden]

Recently I was contacted by my property manager about the roof on my property possibly needing replacement. The roofing contractor saw a lot of storm damage and suggested I call my insurance company to file a claim. 

A little background on this property, I bought it in July 2014 when I lived in Arizona with an FHA loan and 3.5% down. It is a 4-plex, but has two separate buildings, each with two units. There are four different street addresses on two different streets, but it is just a single parcel.

I filed the claim and the claims specialist gave me an estimate for just one of the buildings. I asked if she had the opportunity to look at the other building and she told me that it wasn't covered under the policy. I was confused, but I assumed that she was mistaken and that is when several weeks of back and forth between myself and the insurance company began.

The insurance company insists that the policy only covers one of the buildings. My arguments was that it is a single property. They kept insisting that it was two different properties. Finally I literally had to show them the county plat map and give them the legal description because they could not understand it.

When I purchased the property, I explained the unique situation with the addresses to my insurance agent and he assured me that everything was good. Fortunately I have not had any major issues because apparently half my property has been uninsured for OVER 5 YEARS.

I lost the battle with the insurance company and I immediately signed up for a second policy (that's right, I am paying double) until I find a new insurer. 

The whole situation has had me pretty stressed out. Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing before?