All Forum Posts by: John Mocker

Stacy,

I would recommend an Attorney in this situation without question.  Preferably someone with Insurance experience.  A public adjuster may also be advisable.  Because the Adjuster's fee is normally a % of your claim payment, you may want to get estimates of the rebuilding costs and see how close the proposed settlement is before you decide if the Adjuster is worthwhile.   If you plan to use an attorney that is not experienced in this area an Adjuster may be more important.  Also, if dealing with the Insurance co. is taking you away from other profitable endeavors, the cost of the adjuster may also be less of an issue.

As to how to find the Attorney and Adjuster that will require some work on your part.   Referrals from other Attorneys or the Bar Association.  For the Public Adjuster, you may want to contact property managers or disaster recovery co. (SeviceMaster, Servpro, etc.)

Walter,

USAA does not deal through independent agents so you are on your own to resolve the issues.   There are a couple of issues.   First is the Oil Burner Breakdown and the second is the smoke damage.  In order to get the Oil Burner damage covered, you will probably need to know what caused it to breakdown.   Without knowing the terms of the policy or the cause, I could not determine anything on how to approach the loss.   The smoke damage may be easier to get them to cover.   I would ask them why they are not coving the "Smoke Damage". 

Without an agent to assist you in this you may want to consult a public adjuster.  They work for a % of the claim payment.  They act as your rep. for the claim. 

The other resourse is the State Insurance Dept.   if you feel they are not handling your claim fairly you may be able to open a complaint.

Tony,

Thanks for the clarification.   I have some additional info for you.  In our area, we have a  company that will cover your situation under what they call a Vacant under Renovation.   Once you move back in they would normally re-write it to another form since it is no longer vacant.  If you have any problems getting the coverage PM me and I can find out from that company if they write policies in GA.  Good luck with the project

Tony,

You need to be clear to the new company on whether or not you will be residing there.   Your post was not clear on it.   There are some companies that will not cover a house being rehabbed that has some one living there.   Others can cover that situation.   Also, if the house will be vacant, you need to be clear to the agent when it will be vacant.  Standard homeowners forms have reductions in coverage when a house is vacant or unoccupied for a set period of time (30 days, 60 days, etc.).  Depending on companies involved, I have seen a vacant policy providing more coverage than a standard policy that the coverage has reduced due to vacancy. 

Matthew,

Congrats on purchasing your First home.  As long as you are living there, the proper policy for a 3 family is a "Homeowners" policy.   You want a "HO3" Form or better.   Most homeowners policies include:

1. Dwelling (Building coverage)

     The limit should be based on the Replacement Cost of the building (cost to rebuild with

     the same kind and quality excluding the foundation)

2. Contents (Personal Property):  most homeowners policies give a set % of the Building

    limit for Contents.  Usually 50 - 70% of the building limit.   You can increase the limit

    if needed.

3. Detached Structures:  for other buildings on the property (ie. sheds & detached garages)

    Again, there is normally an included limit of 10% of the building limit.  That can be increased

    if needed.

4. Loss of Use / Loss of Rents:   Normally, there is a 20% included limit.  Loss of use is for

    your additional expenses if you can not live there due to a covered claim (ie. Fire).  The

    Loss of Rents is for the loss of Rental income if the tenants can not occupy the house

    after a covered loss.

5. Personal Liability:  For claims due to Bodily Injury or Property Damage that you become

    Liable for and which is covered under the policy.   Companies normally offer limits up to

    $500,000 but some offer $1,000,000.   Buy the max.  

6. Medical Payments:   Provides coverage for an injury suffered on the premises.  Does not

    require proof that you were at fault.  Used to keep small loses into becoming lawsuits.

    Normally offered up to $5,000 but check to see if higher limits are available.

7.  Deductible:   This is not a coverage but rather your portion of a claim.  Most better policies

     will not have a deductible for either the Liability or Medical payments coverage.  It will

    apply to the other 4 coverages.   You can select the amount of the deductible, usually

    ranges from $500 to $5,000.  The higher the deductible the lower your overall premium

    but get quotes on all the deductibles you are interested in.  Sometimes the incremental

   savings from $1,000 to $2,500 or from $2,500 to $5,000 are too small to make the higher

   deductible worthwhile.   ***depending on how far the house is from the coast, you may

   also be required to have a separate Wind or Hurricane deductible.  Most times, the

   deductible will be 2% to 5% of the building value.  That is a significant amount

   (on a $500,000 building that comes to $10,000 for 2% or $25,000 for 5%).   A policy

    with a higher premium may be a better deal if it does not have a wind deductible.

There are many endorsements that are available on the homeowners policy.  Without

knowing the details I can not suggest which would be right to add on.  Several you should

pay attention to are:

- Ordinance & Law:  Provides additional building coverage to deal with rebuilding cost

      Increases due to changes in Zoning or Building laws

- Personal Injury Liability:   Libel, defimation of character, wrongful imprisionment, etc.

     (normally recommended, especially if you are a landlord)

- Water Backup:  For water damage due to the backup of Sewers or Drains.

- Personal Articles:   Coverage for belongings that have a special or collectors value

     such as Jewelery, Furs, Fine Arts, Collectibles, etc...

Your age should not be a factor on the pricing but, depending on the company these other factors may get you credits:

- Insurance Score (company pulls certain info out of your credit report)

     It is not your credit score but generally better credit will result in a better score

- Time at your job

- Education level

- time at current residence

If you have questions on any of this info PM me.  Good Luck

Janice,

You can look into quotes for coverage as the property owner but make sure that it will cover the Demolition Operation.   I suspect a stand alone policy that would cover the demolition would be costly.  

If you can not get affordable coverage you may be able to lower you liability in the contract with the Demolition contractor.  Contact an experienced construction/real estate attorney and draft out some requirements that the Contactor must do.   Some possibilities, used by General Contractors to subs and corporate or Buidling owners, are to require:

- That they name you as additional insured

- That their insurance must give you 30 day notice of cancelation

- That they Hold you Harmless & that they Indemnify you

- That their Insurance be Primary & Non-contributory coverage

- That they waive subrogation against you

I strongly recommend that a qualified legal counsel review this.  Depending on how other parts of the contact read any of the above may need to be modified. 

** Make sure the company doing the demolition is licensed and insured for that operation. 

Chris,

If the properties are both in your name or the same LLC, the open claim would show up when the new company runs a "CLUE" report. The insurance companies share claim info with CLUE so they have a database of the claims that have occurred. Later, a company can purchase a report from CLUE that shows the claim activity. I believe that the report looks up claims for the property address entered and the named insured.

At this point, any company that is insuring the new property will question the open claim.   For some companies, their Underwriting that they file with the state of NY may specifically state they do not write if there is an open claim.  I doubt that one of those companies would make an exception.   Other companies that do not have that in their filings with the state may still not want to write that situation but would be more likely to make an exception if provided with sufficient info.  Also, there are Excess & Specialty markets that may write the Properties but the coverage usually is less and the cost more. 

Any agent that you contact will need to know why the claim is open and what the likely outcome is. You may want to consider a separate LLC for this new properties. That may help with the new company.

I looked for some info on this and found:

JOINT STATEMENT OF

THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS UNDER THE

FAIR HOUSING ACT

One section gave some possible avenues of denial:

9. What happens if providing a requested accommodation involves some costs on

the part of the housing provider?

Courts have ruled that the Act may require a housing provider to grant a reasonable

accommodation that involves costs, so long as the reasonable accommodation does not pose an undue financial and administrative burden and the requested accommodation does not constitute a fundamental alteration of the provider’s operations. The financial resources of the provider, the cost of the reasonable accommodation, the benefits to the requester of the requested accommodation, and the availability of other, less expensive alternative accommodations that would effectively meet the applicant or resident’s disability-related needs must be considered in determining whether a requested accommodation poses an undue financial and administrative

The inability to insure the risk of the dog on restricted list (ie. Pit Bull, etc...) or another animal that posses a danger (tiger, alligator, bear, etc.) would seem pose an undue financial burden.   It seems apparent from other sections of the document however, that you could not charge the tenant for the difference if you could get the coverage but it cost more.  Nor could you require them to provide insurance for the animal. 

I don't know how you could test it or get more info. 

Deanna,

BreAnn is correct, you should report it.  Depending on your Insurance policy and the State Laws that apply, you could jeopardize coverage by failing to report it.  Some policies require notification within a set time from you becoming aware of a situation that could lead to a claim.  Late reporting could allow the company to deny the loss. 

The Medical payments coverage of your policy may apply to the loss.  It is used to pay medical bills up to a small limit ($1,000 to $5,000) normally.  It is intended to keep the small losses from becoming lawsuits.   It does not require you to be at fault. 

If you make your agent aware of the potential loss, they may be obligated to report it by their contact with the company.   I still think it is a good idea to discuss it with the agent but I wanted to let you know that there is a possibility that they have to report it even if you chose not to. 

Ray,

I think I can help with #1.  When a policy is based on Replacement Cost (RC), the companies generally will not pay the Replacement cost until the work is completed.  They will pay the Actual Cash Value (RC less Depreciation) and then, when the policy holder shows that the work is completed, they issue a check for the money that was held back.  In your case, I believe that would be the Recoverable Depreciation.  To verify that and find out about 2 & 3 you should be talking to your agent and the claims adjuster at the company.  Hope that is some help