HELP PLEASE - Lost My House In Fire & Insurance Company Trying To Change Policy Afterwards
Hello All -
As the title states, my house of 15 yrs along with everything I ever owned was totally destroyed in a fire back in May. A few days later when I was finally permitted to return to my property I met with my insurance adjuster to access the damage. During our meeting he reviewed my policy and he complimented me with how good it was. He pointed out the many extras the policy contained including a details in the content portion of it. Not only did it provide $150,000 coverage on contents, but it would also permit me to allocate unused portions of this amount towards massive improvements to my house. In fact, he said there would be enough left over to add a second floor the house that would ultimately replace the one story bungalow that was destroyed. So despite the shock and anguish resulting from the fire, what he said to me that day really helped brighten my spirits.
This was back in late May. The problem now is, the adjuster insists I miss-quoted him and I am not entitled to what he stated 3 months earlier. He believes I grossly misconstrued with what was said to me, and I’m only entitled to the unused content insurance funds if the amount my house was insured for was not enough to build a house of equivalent value to what was lost.
So if this was the case, why would he even put the notion in my mind that there would be enough money left over from the content insurance to build a 2 story house? I mean why even mention I would be entitled to massive improvements in the first place if I was entitled to only something equal to what was lost. What was the point of paying for all the extras in my policy.
This is when got really funny and not in the ha ha kind. He claims that when he used the terms "2nd floor", what he really meant was the main floor. As I scratched my head and wondered What The "F" he was talking about, he elaborated that the crawl space of the house was technically the first floor and the main floor where I would live was the second floor. And that's what he believes is where the confusion originated.
Seriously, without exaggerating whatsoever, this is what he said to me.
I really hope someone here could help out because what really worries me now is my copy of the policy that was in affect at the time of the fire was destroyed. I've requested an original copy from the broker and the insurance company and both have come back with only an updated version, not the original signed copy. I suspect the reason for this is my broker also relies on receiving copies from the insurance company.
As I was flipping through the pages to get to the clause section of the policy, I realized I couldn’t. Not because I was worried with what it said. No, I mean I couldn’t because the entire clause section was completely blanked out. It only listed a few clauses related to mortgage, but everything below it were blank pages and it went straight to the last page of the policy that showed the privacy disclaimers.
Am I just being paranoid? I’m having a really a tough time understanding why there would be blank pages within my insurance policy where clauses and other details should be present. Documentation that I hoped would contradict all the BS my insurance adjuster was spewing out.
I decided to consult with one of my co-workers who also lost her house a few years ago, and she really thinks something is seriously amiss, especially when you consider the missing clause section. She even went as far as to say I should consult with a lawyer.
I guess before it comes to that, I plan on visiting the bank that holds the mortgage of my house and hope they have a copy of the policy. Other than that, I am clueless on what to do next.
Would seriously appreciate any advice.
Hello
Hello All -
As the title states, my house of 15 yrs along with everything I ever owned was totally destroyed in a fire back in May. A few days later when I was finally permitted to return to my property I met with my insurance adjuster to access the damage. During our meeting he reviewed my policy and he complimented me with how good it was. He pointed out the many extras the policy contained including a details in the content portion of it. Not only did it provide $150,000 coverage on contents, but it would also permit me to allocate unused portions of this amount towards massive improvements to my house. In fact, he said there would be enough left over to add a second floor the house that would ultimately replace the one story bungalow that was destroyed. So despite the shock and anguish resulting from the fire, what he said to me that day really helped brighten my spirits.
This was back in late May. The problem now is, the adjuster insists I miss-quoted him and I am not entitled to what he stated 3 months earlier. He believes I grossly misconstrued with what was said to me, and I’m only entitled to the unused content insurance funds if the amount my house was insured for was not enough to build a house of equivalent value to what was lost.
So if this was the case, why would he even put the notion in my mind that there would be enough money left over from the content insurance to build a 2 story house? I mean why even mention I would be entitled to massive improvements in the first place if I was entitled to only something equal to what was lost. What was the point of paying for all the extras in my policy.
This is when got really funny and not in the ha ha kind. He claims that when he used the terms "2nd floor", what he really meant was the main floor. As I scratched my head and wondered What The "F" he was talking about, he elaborated that the crawl space of the house was technically the first floor and the main floor where I would live was the second floor. And that's what he believes is where the confusion originated.
Seriously, without exaggerating whatsoever, this is what he said to me.
I really hope someone here could help out because what really worries me now is my copy of the policy that was in affect at the time of the fire was destroyed. I've requested an original copy from the broker and the insurance company and both have come back with only an updated version, not the original signed copy. I suspect the reason for this is my broker also relies on receiving copies from the insurance company.
As I was flipping through the pages to get to the clause section of the policy, I realized I couldn’t. Not because I was worried with what it said. No, I mean I couldn’t because the entire clause section was completely blanked out. It only listed a few clauses related to mortgage, but everything below it were blank pages and it went straight to the last page of the policy that showed the privacy disclaimers.
Am I just being paranoid? I’m having a really a tough time understanding why there would be blank pages within my insurance policy where clauses and other details should be present. Documentation that I hoped would contradict all the BS my insurance adjuster was spewing out.
I decided to consult with one of my co-workers who also lost her house a few years ago, and she really thinks something is seriously amiss, especially when you consider the missing clause section. She even went as far as to say I should consult with a lawyer.
I guess before it comes to that, I plan on visiting the bank that holds the mortgage of my house and hope they have a copy of the policy. Other than that, I am clueless on what to do next.
Would seriously appreciate any advice.
Hello
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