On February 21, 2018 the policyholder experienced a category 3 water loss in her Carnegie, Pittsburgh home from a broken stack pipe that runs from the second floor bathroom through the kitchen, which in return sent sewage throughout these areas of the home. Immediately upon noticing the damage the homeowner called a restoration company to mitigate the damage and called her insurance company to report the damage. Not knowing what other options she might have, she followed her insurance company’s instructions and sent their claim adjuster a few days later to inspect the loss.

After 2 months of waiting, she received notice that the restoration company’s bill has been paid along with a check to replace the damage to her home. The policyholder quickly realized a the cost to simply remove the damaged property would almost exceed the payment she received to replace it. Realizing she would not have a working kitchen or shower, she asked her claim adjuster what she should do. The adjuster advised her to go to a hotel and send him the bill. This created further stress on the policyholder since she did not have the money to front the hotel expenses.

After doing some research and speaking to family and friends, the homeowner decided to seek help and was referred to Pittsburgh public adjuster Zach Flora of Tutwiler & Associates. After a free consultation, Zach inspected the property and noticed considerable damage missed by the insurance adjuster. This included all of her kitchen cabinets, hardwood floors, bathroom tile flooring, carpet that ran continuous throughout the second floor and the removal of water damaged drywall.

After documenting the unaccounted for damage Mr. Flora scheduled an inspection with the insurance company’s claim adjuster. Follow-up phone calls, letters documenting the situation and negotiation by Mr. Flora resulted in a claim settlement for an additional $24,000 as well as additional funds for perished food items and a prepaid two week hotel stay during the period of restoration. Having a private claim adjuster checking the insurance company’s work and advocating for the homeowner, resulted in a fair claim settlement for this policyholder.