Damage Information (Hail/Fire)
Hail and Roof Damage in Iowa and Nebraska
A widespread denied insurance claim is hail damage. Many times your insurance adjuster will tell you the damage is from regular wear and tear. Many homeowners not knowing the difference will drop the claim.
In reality, once your shingles are damaged, they will deteriorate much quicker. Hail damage will decrease the life of your roof. Once you are two years from the date of the claim, the insurance company will be off the hook in replacing your roof no matter how bad the damage.
It's very important to have your roof examined by an experienced public adjuster. In our case, I was a general contractor before I applied for my adjuster's license, and I am Haag certified.
Hail and Roof Damage in Iowa and Nebraska
When submitting a roof claim, make sure you set an appointment when you can be present. My experience has been many adjusters will arrive with no ladders, so in that case, how can they get on your roof. Also, if you have a two-story home and steep pitch, many adjusters will not get on your roof for safety reasons. The only way you can examine tall pitched roofs is with the use of a hydraulic lift and rope off for safety. You cannot examine hail damage from your driveway; you have to be on the roof to see the damage.
When we examine roofs if we can take pictures and document the damage many times insurance companies will accept our insurance scope. We use the same software as your insurance company so we can maximize your claim and make sure you repair everything that is damaged. Additional items that may be damaged are the gutters, fascia, window wraps, air conditioners, and outer buildings.
Sometimes the siding or the paint on the buildings have been damaged. This all needs to be documented. Once your insurance company has accepted our insurance scope, the initial funds (actual cash value) will be placed in our escrow account. You then can go about selecting your contractor. Once the work is completed, we will help you recover what is called the depreciation funds. There is paperwork that is needed to close your file with the insurance company, and we will handle this process for you.
How is the public adjuster paid?
Our fee comes out of the insurance claim. Typically a public adjuster will receive 10% of the claim. Some people will think this is a lot, but when you consider the fact that we know how to maximize your claim.
You will receive more money to repair and replace your contents than if you try to close your insurance claim. You do not have the insurance software or the expertise to know how your insurance company works when it comes to paying out on a claim.
How is the public adjuster paid?
A recent example: We had a homeowner who had a house fire, and he rented the home, so the contents were not his problem. The property owner had an insurance policy with a maximum $118,000 replacement value if the property was destroyed by fire or wind.
The insurance company wanted to repair the damage, and their insurance scope came in at $68,000. Next, factor in depreciation which his insurance adjuster figured at 30%. This means the depreciation is paid out only if the repairs are done and documented. The property owner was, in this case, going to receive $47,600 (ACV) actual cash value. At that point, the property owner can take the cash and demo the home and sell the lot.
By using a public adjuster, we could negotiate that the house needed to be replaced not repaired. In this case, we are working with the entire replacement value of $118,000. The depreciation is the same (30%). So now the property owner receives an ACV check for $82,600. Minus our fee for $11,800 (10%) and the net claim to the property owner now is an additional $23,200. So, in other words, a net claim to the property owner is now $70,800. Was it worth paying our 10% fee?
Now I ask you: What makes more sense? Handle the claim on your own or use a public adjuster with the expertise to maximize your insurance claim.
We handle all claims. It doesn't matter if it is a house fire with contents or damage to your roof from hail and wind. Large or small, we work all insurance claims.
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Steps to take after a fire
- 1 Contact your insurance agent and report your fire.
- 2 Secure your home from more damage (weather and vandalism).
- 3 Meet with your insurance adjuster.
- 4 The insurance adjuster will inventory your personal property and will want to start removing the property from your home. DO NOT REMOVE ANY ITEMS UNTIL YOU SEE YOUR ESTIMATE.
Steps to take after a fire
- 1 Stop and take a breath. Make your adjuster produce the paperwork for your claim.
- 2 The critical question to ask insurance adjuster: How much is the cleaning estimate and exactly how is this paid out of our funds? If the insurance adjuster says "We'll take care of it".
(1st RED FLAG)
- 1 Look at the numbers on the Summary for Content Page. This is the bottom line.
- 2 Look the numbers over very carefully. Are they close to policy limits? 50%? 75% What %? If not close to 100%, call Midwest Public Adjuster for a SECOND OPINION.
- 3 If Actual Cash Value for personal property is maximum policy limits, you do not need my help. Your insurance company is taking care of you. If Actual Cash Value for personal property is not close to maximum policy limits, call immediately for a second opinion.
- 4 If Net Claim Remaining for personal property is 30% – 50% less than maximum policy limits.
(2nd RED FLAG)
We had a fire!
We didn't know we had choices. We had rights.
We needed someone to help us understand our insurance.
Our home was destroyed in May 2015, but we got out safely. Our insurance company arrived on the scene. Our insurance adjuster told us they would handle everything and help us recover from our loss. After all, that's why we have insurance. Right??
Initially, there was a flurry of activity. The insurance company brought in cleaning companies to start collecting and cleaning our items and furniture. It seemed like we were being taken care of. The insurance adjuster took four hours going over the necessary inventory of our home, again comforting us regarding our loss.
Five months later, we realize we are in a financial mess. The insurance company had not explained the details. We didn't know we had choices. We didn't know that our money would be used by the insurance company to pay to clean items we would have thrown away. We didn't know items we would have kept been removed from our home, and now no knows what happened to them.
No one was willing to take responsibility – the cleaning company or our insurance company.
We will only receive about 1/3 of what we should have received for our personal property. We were rushed to come up with an inventory, so "we could get our lives back." Now we realize there were so many items not accounted for – items the insurance company will never have to pay for.
We needed someone to help us from the very start to tell us there are choices and objectively help us make decisions.
I met Steve O'Rourke for five months too late. He is a public adjuster. He explained, "Your insurance company's goal is to settle for the least amount they can. A public adjuster works for the homeowner, and his goal is to help the family completely recover what they have lost."
Looking back it is not a surprise the insurance adjuster told us not to talk to public adjusters.
This is what happened in our case. The numbers below are from our insurance claim.
The insurance adjuster took 4 hours to complete the inventory of our life long belongings.
We were insured for the maximum amount of $214,200.00 for the personal items of our home what we should have received.
Inventory of home by our insurance adjuster: What we settled for $159,165.00 Less 31% depreciation* (items are used)–$ 50,008.00 Balance $109,157.00 Less our deductible – $1,000.00 Less cost of cleaning vendors hired by insurance company–$35,000.00 Insurance money after deductions: 66% less than we should have received $73,157.00 *Depreciation may be recovered IF you buy new items and send the receipts into the insurance company. Unfortunately, we do not have $50,008 to buy new items. This will take time for us to afford to buy these items and then it will take additional time for the insurance company to pay us back. Our insurance company can close our fire claim after 12 months. It will be impossible for us to recoup the full depreciation within this time frame.
How could Midwest Public Adjusters have helped us?
A public adjuster will help you understand what needs to be accomplished. He will not let the insurance company move one item out of the home. He will help you secure your property so no further damage can occur from weather or vandalism.
He will take time to inventory all your items, even the smallest item, such as a bottle of aspirin. How many bottles of medicine do you have? It all counts towards your total claim amount.
He will let you decide what you want cleaned and what you want to throw away. He will let you hire the cleaning company of your choice. The public adjuster is accountable to you and not to the insurance company. He will help direct you, but you will be in control of all decisions.
The insurance company may try to repair the structural fire damage. The public adjuster, with your approval, would bring in a structural engineer to make sure your home is safe to repair or, if need be, have it completely rebuilt.
With the help of a public adjuster, this is what we should have received from a more accurate inventory of our personal property. If only we had known, we wouldn't be in this financial mess.
The typical fire claim takes a public adjuster 150-300 hours to inspect, take pictures, and catalogue items into insurance software.
We were insured for the maximum amount of $214,200.00 for the personal items of our home what we should have received.
Inventory by homeowner* / public adjuster – see note below $310,500.00 Less 31% depreciation (items are used) – $ 96,255.00 Balance – this amount will maximize the claim – see next row $214,245.00 Maximum amount of claim for inventory(no need to buy items or produce receipts- you have the money in hand to buy what you need)
$214,200.00 Less deductible –$1,000.00 Less Public Adjuster Fee (10% of the claim) –$ 21,420.00 Insurance money after deductions:What we could have received. $191,780.00 *This homeowner, realizing they were in trouble, took time off from work and spent 300 hours doing her inventory of personal items. This replacement cost value came from her estimate, not based on insurance software which would have been higher. Also, she estimates she lost $60,000 in income by taking time off from her regular job to do this inventory. What is the real cost to this family? In this case, we would have maximized the claim.
What is the better scenario?
Do not let your insurance adjuster remove one item from your home,
until you have had an initial consultation explaining your rights.
Fires are traumatic. I am sorry your family is going through this.
Another home. Another fire. Similar story.
My name is Hope. I am a fire survivor. It will be four years ago, this Friday when our nightmare began. The details are remarkably clear, considering so much time has passed. When Steve O'Rourke of Midwest Public Adjuster asked me to share my story, I was happy to do so in hopes that families that have the misfortune to have a house fire might learn from our costly mistakes.
It all started one cold night in January 2011. I woke up to a dripping sound. The clock said 1 AM, so I turned over and tried to ignore it. Living in a historic, two-story brick home, I assumed the roof might be leaking…so no big deal. The dripping became louder until I couldn't ignore it any longer. As is typical of older homes, our bedrooms are all on the second floor. I walked out into the hall and instantly saw the problem. It wasn't a roof leak at all: the dripping was Dow board insulation that had melted and was streaming down from our attic hatch. The hatch itself was glowing red. I yelled at my husband to get up. By the grace of God, we were spared.
I wish I could say; we lived happily ever after…that only happens in fairytales. Though the fire was confined to the attic, in the end, we wound up gutting the whole interior all the way to the exterior brick. In hindsight, I only wish we had gotten out safely and let it burn to the ground. The next ten months would be filled with struggles. Despite the fact, we had full replacement insurance.
We called our insurance agent, and he sent out our adjuster. We were confident we had good insurance, and they would take care of us, that's why we have insurance.
It wasn't long before we learned our insurance company would go to great lengths to make sure they DID NOT pay us what we were due. The insurance adjuster arrived, consoled us and said, "No problem. Go ahead and start making repairs.". He suggested we call Service Master to get the wet carpets pulled up as soon as possible. In hindsight, we should have seen the trouble coming when we were given NO PAPERWORK, SIGNED NO DOCUMENTS and given no dollar amount (he guessed it should be $25,000-$50,000). The adjuster was in and out in less than 15 minutes.
We called Service Master as our adjuster suggested. He had their contact information. Within two hours, they arrived and started tearing down our ceilings, pulling up wet carpet and bagging our salvageable personal items. KEEP IN MIND NO ONE IS MAKING AN INVENTORY OF OUR ITEMS. It became apparent, very quickly, that the water damage was more extensive than our adjuster implied. The water had gone through the attic floor, the second and first floors, all the way down into the basement. Water was even in all the light fixtures in the kitchen and living room! Service Master kept assuring us the sooner we got the water out the better, and our insurance company would take care of us.
At this point, we knew we had more damage way beyond our adjuster's initial estimate. We called the adjuster and asked him to come back ASAP. He arrived that afternoon and blew a gasket. He said he had not approved the scope of work he saw, although he could see the evidence of water damage in all the exposed areas. He ranted that he had not "authorized" the work. He made it clear the insurance company was not going to pay for it.
We called three different contractors. They all agreed the damage was well into triple digits—all three estimated structural damages alone at $150,000 plus. The insurance company dismissed those quotes and would not budge. Our beautiful, Victorian home with the gorgeous cherry oak woodwork was ruined, and so were we. We realized we were between a rock and a hard spot.
Days melted into weeks. We were in a stalemate with our insurance company. It became apparent we had to do something because our insurance company was not taking care of us like we thought they would. We made an appointment with the bank to try and get a construction loan.
Then we received a certified letter informing us our insurance company was cancelling our policy. That became a huge problem. No bank was willing to write us a loan with our open claim. We couldn't get a loan without insurance. Through the help of our bank loan officer, he put pressure on our insurance company, and they agreed to postpone cancelling our insurance until the claim was closed. We were able to get a modest construction loan to begin reconstruction. The money didn't go very far, so next, we had to take a loan against my husband's 401K.
Let me recap our situation: our savings was gone, we are racking up debt, and we were homeless. My brother did some research and suggested we call a PUBLIC ADJUSTER. We did, and the next day he arrived, assessed our situation and agreed to take on our case. I only wish we had known about the role of a public adjuster from DAY 1. Even with his fee, we would have saved THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.
Our public adjuster did the work our insurance company should have done. He did a complete assessment of the damage. He ran calculations of replacement costs using the insurance software program. He would have brought in a structural engineer to assess the damage before Service Master started tearing our house apart. He would have slowed down the process to access all the damages and our contents and then given us choices. He was confident that he could get us a settlement closer to $200,000. I can't express what a blessing that would be for us. Our public adjuster delivered. Our insurance company was not able to bully him because he knew all their tricks.
Our public adjuster was there when our insurance company decided to sue us for fraud. They were claiming that we used the fire to get a new house. Far from the truth—we adored our house. Our public adjuster prepared us for when my husband and I were deposed for hours separately, with the insurance company lawyer, trying to trap us into saying something that would keep them from having to pay. Our public adjuster explained this was a common practice for insurance companies to frighten clients into settling. Who knew???
Since our public adjuster prepared us, our depositions went well. Our insurance company dropped the threat of a lawsuit and fired the insurance adjuster. In the end, our public adjuster was able to negotiate a very favourable settlement for us. We finally received a check in the mail.
My advice for anyone in a similar position is simple. Get everything in writing from your insurance company. Do not let any personal items leave your home until a detailed inventory is done. That was a whole other story by itself. Slow down and let your head clear itself. The damage won't get any worse in a couple of days. If you have any feelings the numbers are not right according to your insurance adjuster, contact a public adjuster for a second opinion. I will tell you right now, and insurance companies will discourage you from contacting a public adjuster. It's easy to understand why. The public adjuster is working for you, not the insurance company.
Looking back and knowing what we know now. If we had signed up with a public adjuster on DAY 1, we would have saved thousands of dollars. More importantly, we would have had a lot less stress and torment. Our public adjuster helped us put our lives back together. We are forever grateful for his help and expertise.
H.B. Story County Iowa