I am in the middle of a large loss fire claim. My sentiments pretty much echo juliatallmadge's (wish I could reach her to find out how it all turned out). Mine was a high-end single family residential rental. The renter was at fault, so not only do I have the experience of dealing with my own insurance company (State Farm), I will be getting experience dealing with the renter's TWO insurance companies (one is for the general renter's policy and the other is for a general liability umbrella policy). All I can say is, it has almost been one year and the house is still standing unoccupied and untouched. The inside of the home was completely smoked out and partially structurally damaged. Only now is the claim being subrogated by my insurance company, which has paid to term limits, to the tenant's insurance company. As juliatallmadge stated, it looks like the tenant's insurance companies will try to micro-negotiate everything, so I am in the process of shopping attorneys. Since the fire was the fault of the tenant's, I deserve to be compensated for my loss. But I get the distinct feeling at this stage this will not happen without legal representation and quite possibly a legal battle that may go all the way to court. I will know more as this situation unfolds in the next 2-6 months. I can only say that State Farm has been wonderful. But be very certain to read your policy thoroughly, because even your claims adjuster can make big mistakes that you might catch. We caught a 90K mistake in our favor. Also, DO NOT make the very common mistake of being underinsured. If we had not been underinsured, we would already be started on the construction while waiting for the tenant's insurance companies to settle with us. Take pictures and videos of EVERYTHING. Open your drawers and cabinets and shoot pictures. Shoot every single feature in your house. And then store those someplace safe outside of your own home. Also, because I saw it happen, keep your computer backed up on a hard drive and store it outside of your home or in a fire/flood proof vault, as well. In my opinion, $1,200 a year for homeowner's insurance is chump change. I was paying more than that and was still underinsured.

update. March 23rd, 2 weeks exactly after my dishwasher exploded, I received an estimate in the mail. I am quite plased at how little depreciation there was. The letter says that a check has been mailed, for the actual value of my loss. The amount of the check is value, minus my deductible. I am thrilled that the adjuster counted *everything*, so I don't have to skimp. Each item is broken down, line by line, and they have accounted for painting my walls that have water damage, and even replacing the insulation in the floors, which I was afraid wouldn't be covered. What I do think is silly, is that the cabinets are being replaced, but not the uppers. My home is a 1978, so the cabinets are old. No chance of matching them, so I'm supposed to have old cabinets on the top, and new on the bottom? A bit silly. We are thinking of replacing the floors ourselves, and are really happy to see that the first check will be enough to cover the materials. It's only $450 or so in depreciation for the floors and cabinets. Not too bad, considering. I still don't understand how I would go about getting the 2nd check for replacement. Do I call and ask? Send them pictures or the completed repair? Have the adjuster come back out and look again?

A person who owns a home can file a claim to the insurance company that they pay a premium to-THEY pay the premium and in most cases it is up to them as to whether they use that money for repairs or otherwise. If they have a mortgage, usually the check is made out to the homeowner and the mortgage company-and because the mortgage company is part owner, they want the damages fixed and will normally inspect the project to assure that something they are vested in is repaired. It's the same with owning a car-if you own your car and get a dent, insurance will pay you but if you don't have it financed, you can choose to fix it or not with the check. The down side to that is-if you do not have it fixed or the home repaired with the money, the insurance company can refuse to renew your insurance when the time rolls around.

I have not only ours, but have been over the years caregiver for both my mother and aunt. I'd highly recommend keeping them for at least several years. Just about a week ago, I got an EOB from her supplemental for Aunt (who died in Jan) for a service that was performed in Dec. Reasons you need to keep them for a while: not all facilities bill promptly--you often need to go 6 months back to make sure benefits are coordinating properly; if you end up in an estate situation, you sometimes need those records; often you think a bill is taken care of, an the facility thinks it's NOT*; also, aside from the financial aspects, those are a great addition to your health record (what year was it I had my appendectomy?)--everything is on them, and you can refer to them. There's also the tax stituation--you need to be able to verify your health deductions--what you paid, what was paid for you, etc. *We've had a problem with this just recently. I was in the ER last August, DH paid the bill IN FULL, IN CASH and got a Paid in full receipt the beginning of SEPT (2011). We've been billed at least 5 times since for a portion of that bill. Each time we've addressed the issue, sending proof we paid it--and been told the matter was cleared off our account. And just a few weeks ago, I got a letter saying they would be turning the matter over to collections--I have been told one more time that our account is cleared. The gal I spoke to seemed surprised that I wanted written proof (????????) I got a printout of the account with a 0 balance, but I'm not wholely convinced yet.... I cannot tell you how many times, for one reason or another, I've had to refer back to those records years later. I'd hang on to them--neatly organized, of course.