a while back we (work) hired a lawyer here to fight for coverage (state farm and farmers) that was owed on several policies...the way the lawyer was charging, it was better if we didn't do a damned thing, they always wanted retainers, then wouldn't move after they exhausted it. we probably broke even between paying the lawyer and from what he recovered through stupid correspondences between the carrier and the lawyer.
That sounds like a crap lawyer. My college roommate was an attorney for Travelers for a decade and has gone into private practice as a partner for an insurance law firm in Hartford, CT. He's saved me thousands personally and my company hundreds of thousands.
Go for vital organs! The jugular might be a good choice to attack... oh wait, not that kind of fighting..
he was actually on the ball, smart and aggressive but he was kind of chasing wild geese and charging $500+ an hour to do so. boss voluntarily chose to hire him to try to maximize money from the insurance companies. on certain matters he really helped though. in the end he probably did some good, but it was hard to measure. everything is so cloudy with these things. being a cushy lawyer must be nice, looking at some of his invoices, he charges for emails and phone calls...wish I could do that (well, I kind of do but don't charge nearly as much).
Does the check have an expiration? Usually 45 or 90 days right? If you don't deposit the check it goes to unclaimed property in the state where you were the claim was. We did that once, the checks just went to unclaimed property. Ultimately we hired someone to resubmit everything and our payment went from around $20k to $145k (long story). If I were you I would just resubmit the claim stating that the replacement cost is much higher than what they gave you. You have to do everything by the book, these people are fucking computers.
Actually, depositing the check isn't necessarily a sign of acceptance, it just muddies (sp?) the water a bit.
Often the check states right on it's face that cashing it is considered payment in full releasing company from further liability. State Farm once tried to convince my injured and 8 month pregnant wife she had only 3 days to cash their $500 check or lose all right to a claim after she was injured in a car crash caused by their insured. We went to our attorney. Medical bills alone for our son's premature birth and injuries totaled close to $100,000. The driver had only the minimum required coverage of $30,000, so that's what the insurance ended up paying.
My wife was a passenger in her mother's car, which was rear-ended. This was 29 years ago and few people had adequate coverage. We could have pursued the driver personally for the other $90,000 (including attorney fees) but garnishing a 25 year old girl's minimum wage job for a couple decades seemed not the way to go. In the end our attorney and Doernbecher Childrens Hospital voluntarily waived 2/3 of their fees and we ate the rest.
ABM, for the record, I'm not talking out of my ass on this one. My home in Denver had concrete/asbestos tiles for its roof (asbestos in a non-friable state is a wonder material). The roof was amazing (it had been installed in 1931), but it was crushed during a hail storm last year. It's also a roof unique to Colorado, so it requires local expertise to understand. State Farm sent an inspector who looked from the street and said "I'm going to count the tiles broken and then give you $50 each to repair them". I sent that person away without allowing them on my roof. I called State Farm and told them to send another inspector. The second inspector walked up a ladder in six different areas, counted 26 broken tiles, told me she understood that $50 per tile to repair it was insufficient, so she was going to up it to $100. I had personally counted 84 tiles that were damaged from the storm. When I related this, the woman said she couldn't see all of them without getting on the roof and she was unwilling to do so. I smiled, and let her send me a check. Finally, I got smart. Since this is the first time State Farm had ever been recalcitrant in giving me what I deserved, I decided to read my policy and learn about my options. "Like kind" replacement became the key issue as (obviously) they don't make tiles with asbestos anymore. Masonite tiles (the kind State Farm wanted me to replace the broken ones with) weren't "like kind". While SF had the ability to repair the roof at their discretion, they had an obligation to replace the broken product with the EXACT SAME product, and that product had to be documented. Furthermore, if they opted to repair, I refused to remove liability from them. I set up a meeting with my agent, and we called the claims center in Texas. We had a civil conversation where I explained my position, showed my agent photos of the damage, e-mailed the claims center photos of the damage, reminded them that since more than one tile was broken and couldn't be replaced with exactly the same product, they HAD to replace my roof. Furthermore, my existing product had been tested (after decades of non-production) for Class A fire resistance and Class 3 impact resistance while being a tile product that weighed only 400 lbs a square, and only a TILE product would be acceptable. It left one option: a fake slate product. I also provided them with three different estimates for the cost of the entire project. Furthermore, three other homes within a two block radius with the same product had their roofs replaced with no objection by their insurance companies. I gave them the companies, addresses and phone numbers of my neighbors. I told them that I had been a loyal customer, the company had certified my roof and that I felt like I had been treated poorly. I mentioned that I had spoken to my college roommate, who was an insurance lawyer and he had counseled me to submit a Proof of Loss before we took the next step. I was hoping to come to an agreement before we had to take those steps. I told them that I wanted a LOCAL adjuster, and one that worked for State Farm. I told them that I would choose my contractor and that contractor would point out where the damage was done and what the options were for like kind replacement. The adjuster came out--he knew my roofer and had worked with him before--and totalled the roof. Two weeks later I held a check in my hand for a little over $62,800 from State Farm and three weeks after that I had a new roof and gutters. If I could get SF to move from $1,600 ($2,600 minus my deductable) to that amount, you can get your insurance company to pay you for the roof you deserve. As an epilogue to this story, my homeowners insurance was just renewed, and at a lower rate as the DaVinci slate product has a Class 4 impact rating. BP is clearly the insurance expert, but I'm not completely ignorant on the process. If you're in the right, don't let the insurance company bully you. Use your agent to grease the skids. Good luck.
I have to say, maxiep, you rock in this thread. Glad I don't have roof problems, but if I ever do I will refer back to this. Hope this isn't another stupid, insipid, and worthless post barfo
I am not going to say who does or does not know what they are talking about. However, I will tell you that I took some ICAR classes with adjusters from an insurance company that I won't name. They may or may not have been mentioned in this thread. The entire group of 20 or so of them took the test given after the class in a room together and shared answers ........(cheated). While my coworkers and I were done with the test in under 5 minutes each, the insurance company employees took about a half an hour and couldn't believe we were done so quickly. I just hope the insurance adjusters know more about roofing than they do auto collision repair, it sucks having someone who doesn't know anything about how to fix a car tell you how to do it. I am really glad that I don't have to deal with them very often.
Man, it's amazing how some threads wend their own way............. Update: I "do" have replacement coverage. Apparently, the adjuster will be meeting with my roofer. Not sure, but I think something was mentioned about Mt. Tabor. BTW, maxie and BP, I value both of your respective responses. Thanks for those.
If you have RPC, then you are receiving the ACV check up-front. When the work is done and verified, you will get the rest of the money withheld. Call me and we can discuss some inside details on how to deal with this the rest of the way.
My roofer called. He just reviewed the estimate sheet and claims that the adjuster "totally screwed up the measurements". Sounds like they're now gonna meet at the job site and duke it out.
Usually, adjusters do not get on those 2nd story steep roofs due to liability issues. There are means and methods to approximate the size of a roof. If it's off, simply have the roofer inform them and a supplemental check is issued. Happens all the time. No need to duke it out. Geeze, take a pill and settle down.
Let me out it this way. Of the 1,000 or so structures with steep high roofs, I didn't bother getting on any of them. I used the standard methods of approximating and then made up the difference when the roofers were there and had the proper equipment to safety belt themselves... If I needed to make a supplement, I did so. It isn't rocket science and there's no need to call out attorneys and the national guard.
Problem is, my roofer friend called the adjuster to compare measurement notes. Apparently, the adjuster "stuck" to his figures and wasn't about to budge. I've since e-mailed the insurance company inquiring as to what my next step might be......up to and including having them send another adjuster out to the place. FWIW, they use independent adjusters not in any way connected to the insurance company (not that matters any).
