Back in November I wrote about my four month saga on getting my roof repaired from a hail storm that had happened the previous summer. When I wrote that article, I thought that my roof repair was imminent. I thought that we were about to receive the check from the insurance company and start the roof and home repairs. It did not happen.
It is now January, and I am finally hearing the sound of banging and hammering on my roof. So what happened? We got the good-old-run-around.
In what can only be compared to the struggles on closing on a home, the mortgage company that was holding my insurance check hostage kept on holding on.
We don’t have this form. We don’t have that form. We need your contractor to sign this or that. This went on for two more months. The worst part is every time they said the check was in the mail… it wasn’t. We would call back only to find out that they needed another form and by the way, it was our responsibility to call them, not theirs to let us know they hadn’t actually sent out the check that they said they had sent out! (whew!)
My husband had to get aggressive and start accusing them of dirty play before we ever got the first check. To make matters worse the first check was only for 1/3 of the money and not the 1/2 promised. Now understand, a roof repair is a one day-2 day max job, so sending out the check in 3 parts is not sufficient. If we didn’t have a personal relationship with the roofer, we would still be waiting right now.
Finally my husband got mad enough to write a strongly worded letter that got another check sent next day air that brought the amount received to 1/2 of the amount they were holding.
Now that the roof repair is underway, we called to have an inspector scheduled so that we could pay the roofer for their work. We were informed that it would take 3-5 days for an inspector to contact us and set and appointment, and we were not to keep calling… they would call us. (AGHHHHHH!)
We have some more letter writing to do.
By the way, we inquired as to why 10% of the money the insurance company had sent to mortgage company was not included in the amount that they were saying they were sending us. We found out that after the work was done and paid for in full, we could ask for a final inspection at which point, we could petition for that final 10%… until then, we had to pay that portion as a co-payment to the roofer.
This is my story to the best of my recollection. I hope it serves you in some way should you run into a similar problem.
~If you liked this you should also read my blogs at the homeschool blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.
Are You Afraid to Call the Insurance Company
“A” Homeowner’s Insurance Bill of Rights.