Here is an insurance claim question that we answered as a contributing member of experts for United Policyholders who advocates for property owners. Q. I had an upstairs pipe burst 1 month ago that caused damage to the upstairs bathroom (tile & drywall), carpet in upstairs (hallway & one bedroom), all of downstairs kitchen (walls, cabinets, ceiling,…
While looking for some information in my office library yesterday, I pulled a book from a shelf titled The Policyholder Advisor authored by Eugene R. Anderson, William G. Passannante, and Robert M. Horkovich. These three gentlemen, all attorneys, and at the time of publishing in 2002, shareholders at Anderson Kill & Olick P.C. now Anderson Kill P.C. one of…
With another polar blast and big snowstorm adding to the misery in the already frozen Northeastern U.S., I was wondering how the property insurance industry is holding up given the onslaught of property claims being filed. Well, that question was answered when we received an auto-reply from an adjuster in New York who works for…
This Q&A came via a question we were asked via the United Policyholders “Ask the Expert” feature that we contribute to. Q. I have filed a claim for water damage to my living room. The adjuster provided details of coverage prior to mitigation, for $1, 762.68 including my $1,000 deductible; for which I paid. The mitigation folks provided…
Yesterday, I was on a flight to sunny South Florida to meet with a client, and ran into a large loss adjuster who works for one of the major insurance carriers heading the same way. When you meet a fellow adjuster or colleagues who are in the business, usually the first question is to ask…
First a little background, an umpire in the insurance property world has nothing to do with baseball except that a baseball umpire and an umpire in a property insurance dispute have one thing in common–both have to make a decision. The baseball umpire will have to make a decision quickly, where as an umpire in…
It’s been an eventful year for public adjusters and the insurance claims industry. So I want to share my 2014 News Year’s Wish List for the property insurance industry. I wish Congress would fix the Biggert-Waters 2012 National Flood Insurance Reform Act. This extremely ill-conceived act of Congress is causing great harm to homeowners all…
Q. My tenant reported mold in a house that is 6 years old. We had a company test and they said the mold was caused by the a/c, due to a low refrigerant level, which caused high humidity levels in the house. At first, the insurance company said we were covered. But when the tenants request…
Q. I had water damage in my house due to an over flowing toilet. My insurance company said it would pay $8,000 to the restoration company that did the clean-up. The problem is that the restoration company who did the water extraction sent me a bill for $36,000. The insurance company sent me a check for…
Q. I have a friend that lives in a retirement condominium community. They have a condo policy that covers all 8 buildings in the community. The insurance has paid to replace between 98-160 shingles per roof due to hail damage. The HOA by-laws state that the roof color must be the same on all roofs. After…