If your home is damaged by fire..

I just went to see a family that had their home damaged by fire. The fire originated from their next door neighbors home. The folks that called me did the right thing & contacted their homeowners insurance company.

The insurance company responded rapidly & issued a check almost immediately to their policy holders. Is this a good thing, or is this the worst possible action for the policy holder?

I went to assess the damage & attempt to give the customer a quotation to restore their home to the condition of the home before the fire.

The windows on the side of the home that suffered the damage were boarded shut from the inside as well as the outside. Blue FEMA tarps have been anchored in place to protect the home from rain, etc. I had absolutely no way to give the folks a proper quote to fix their home. It was not fair to the customer & I had no way to accurately assess the damage or what it would take to fix the damage. Ethically, as well as my gut feeling to me there was no way to bid the restoration fairly and accurately. If we attempted the repairs, we would end up being married to what could possibly be an extended nightmare.

As it turned out, the folks had a bid from a local siding, soffit, fascia company for less than $2,000?

They quoted to clean the backing board, replace destroyed batten insulation, & install brand new siding to match the 20 year old siding on the undamaged side of the home. The insurance company would not even give the folks a new window. They gave them $200 to re-glaze the existing window that was exposed to super-hot heat from the flames just 10ft. away at the neighbors home that had been destroyed by the fire that originated there. The window allowance says a lot. It shows that the insurance settlement accessor was less than reasonable, much less generous.

I have been in this business for over 40 years. I had to respectively decline to even bid on this job of rehabilitation of a structure damaged by excessive heat that literally melted the siding & windows of the home.

My advice is to NEVER accept a check from your homeowners insurance company after fire damage UNTIL you have the damage fully inspected by a State Licensed Certified Architect. An impartial architect ( or engineer) will be totally thorough & unbiased in there evaluation.

Your own homeowners insurance company is out to give you the smallest settlement possible. That is a common trait of ALL insurance companies. Never think for a moment that the nice and friendly insurance adjuster has your best interest in mind. The adjuster is out to get you to accept a settlement before you are thinking clearly. Before you contact an attorney, or contractors that are expensive because they are professional & do good work. A repair that covers smoke damaged structure & heat damaged studs and roof rafters is just "wrong" in so many ways. When you sell your home you should disclose that the home suffered fire damage. If the buyers "home inspector" discovers charred siding, studs, and/or wiring, it could cause you as the seller a loss of tens of thousands of dollars! Worse yet, you may not find a buyer at all.

The home that I was there to assess, would cost probably $350 to $400K to build new. To think that windows, insulation, burned soffit & fascia, & totally melted siding ( 300ft of siding) can be removed & replaced to match the other side of this home for $2,200 is impossible. If that is true then I guess the entire home could be built for maybe $100k ? Anybody knows that is impossible.

If your home suffers fire or hurricane damage, have 3 quotes from MAJOR restoration & construction companies, to restore your home to at least re-damaged status. This fire victim will now have to go back & fight their own homeowners insurance company to get another settlement check. Also, be very wary of quotes that are ridiculously low. You will regret it, if you accept a check from an adjuster that does NOT have your best interest at heart.