Dad of Stamford Fire Victims Plans to Sue by Anthony Buzzeo STAMFORD, Conn. � Matthew Badger has filed a notice of intent to sue the city of Stamford for negligence in connection with the Christmas morning fire that took the lives of his daughters Sarah, Grace and Lilly. The notice was delivered to the Town Clerk�s office Friday, May 4, by Badger�s lawyer. The Shippan Avenue home destroyed by fire was owned by Badger�s estranged wife, Madonna, who was one of the two survivors of the blaze. The notice names the city's director of operations Ernie Orgera, City Engineer Louis Casolo, Assessor Francis Kirwin and Building Official Robert DeMarco for their or their office�s part in allowing the girls to be in the home at the time of the fire. "[Badger] suffered damages as a consequence of the aforementioned parties� negiligence, carelessness, and actions, including but not limited to the wrongful death of the children on December 25, 2011," the notice said. The notice points to several actions by the city that might have led to the deaths, including the wrongful issuance of permits to Michael Borcina and/or Tiberias Construction Inc., and to Michael Foley and/or Foley�s Fine Carpentry Inc. It also alleges that city officials either did not inspect the construction enough or did so carelessly, failure to follow up on inspections despite the home's being in unsafe condition for the children, and for allowing the children to live in the house without working smoke detectors and a fire alarm system. The notice described the demolition of the home the day after the fire as "intentional spoliation of evidence." By Tuesday afternoon, Town Clerk Donna Loglisci said she had not yet received the actual suit. Messages have been left for both Joseph Capalbo II, director of Legal Affairs for Stamford, and Richard Emery, Badger�s attorney.

Danny, I'm in Canada, so we have different insurance companies up here. I didn't hire a lawyer as my thought was that the lawyer would end up with all the money. I had a flood--and i waited a fair bit of time for the water to do the damage that it was going to do. ie. Cracking of my wooden california shutters, rust forming around the pot lights. This type of damage takes time to appear and the insurance wanted to get out fast and not cover these items. It was difficult to get them to acknowledge the damage. The restoration company that they wanted me to use, and who assessed the damage, was definitely "in bed" with the insurance company and kept denying all of the damage. They kept telling me that the cracks were "pre-existing" condition. This was garbage. I had just moved into the condo 6 months prior to the flood, so I had all the photos from the real estate company. One tip: Take lots of photos--including photos of your premises BEFORE you have a flood/fire. I was so frustrated with the contractor/insurance adjuster that I started to cry when they were here and denying all the damage--which was very apparent. This wasn't meant as a "tactic"--it was tears of frustration and anger. Well, once I started to cry, they actually approved the blinds (which were quoted at about $10,000 to replace) and 1/2 of my kitchen cupboards--where there were gaps and cracks forming in the doors. Luckily, most of my condo was wallpapered and they finally agreed that the wallpaper was ruined. (replacement cost to purchase wallpaper was around $8000). That added a fair bit to the claim. What started off as a $30K offer from the insurance ended up being a $120K claim. So I feel that my perserverance paid off. Once the insurance agreed to the damage, then they would pay for a quote that i proved them for materials, ie. the blinds, wallpaper, but they would not "up" their price for labour. It was crazy. They were offering $50 total for labour to wallpaper my large bedroom. Go find a guy who will do a huge room for $50. Trust me--it was a frustrating exercise. I had switch many of my trades to find people who would do the work for a more reasonable price. I can tell you that the other people in my building who sustained damage in this large leak who had insurance with Chubb had no issues with Chubb. During my 18 months of being out of my condo, i had lots of time to google insurance issues. It appears that people are unhappy with all insurance companies! I was not "under-insured", but I have increased my coverage since this incident. I had $150,000 out of home coverage--which covers living in a hotel while you are out of your place and moving costs. The insurance company told me to go a furnished suite near my home in a very fancy part of Toronto. It was over $5000 per month. So, after 18 months, the 150K was depleting quickly. I also never factored into my calculations how much it would cost to do the work needed immediately following the flood--removing the carpets, bringing in fans and water extractors, etc etc. So be sure when you calculate how much insurance coverage you need, that you add extra for these type of things. My insurance really wanted me to use their contractor--but my friends who had claims were very unhappy with the work of the insurance contractors. Plus, the insurance told me that their mandate is to restore everything back as it was before. If you decide that during the process you want to change something, they will not do it. So I decided to hire my own trades people and make some changes/improvements to the condo. I hope that this helps!

Lascatx, sounds like you had the same type of leak/flood we experienced, except in my case there was nobody home so the water gushed unimpeded through the house for 18 hours! And Bonnie, our situation is very similar to yours; we also called ServPro immediately and they were at the house within an hour or so--on a Sunday afternoon! They did an amazing job drying things out and actually had all the flooring off within about 36 hours of the flood to completely dry out the underfloor and avoid mold which is a HUGE issue as you can imagine in Miami FL. Like your MIL's house they placed large fans, dehumidifiers etc. and checked on a daily basis to ensure the moisture levels were low. We also reported the damage immediately on Monday morning and the insurance adjuster told us the same thing, that ServPro was exactly the right choice. As for an update, the day before Thanksgiving after almost daily email inquiries for weeks I finally got the paperwork saying the claim was approved, along with a statement of loss I had to sign and notarize to process the payment. I sent that in earlier this week and was notified yesterday the payment will be processed (hopefully meaning a check issued!) within 10-14 business days. Based on that I told my contractor we can get started. I picked up floor tile samples yesterday, focusing on in stock materials because his floor guys will start work December 10th. Even if I don't have payment in hand, everything seems legally in order so I am comfortable moving forward. Once the work is done I can get the house on the rental market again although I hope things aren't too slow during the holidays.

I had a minor flood last year caused by an idiot upstairs - I am in a high rise. I had the emergency water remediation come out to dry out the walls. I needed an asbestos remediation company to check for asbestos and then they had to be paid to remove the drywall because it contained asbestos. I then had to have the drywall installed AND there was damage to the ceiling because the asbestos people tape up a plastic "room" and the tape destroyed the ceiling. I didn't have problems with my insurance company as they paid me what it cost less my deductible. I presented them with the invoices. They approved my choice of the water and asbestos remediation companies and paid their invoices. I presented them with the estimate from the GC for repairs - including repairs for the ceiling damage caused by the asbestos company - and they paid that fully as well. Obviously you need to find out what it is going to cost to completely repair the damage. I have insurance with full replacement value. Something I didn't realize is that they deduct the depreciation until AFTER you finish. In my case this was moot since I had actually just finished a full remodel so there was no remediation. Before hiring a third party, why don't you wait to see if there are issues with the insurance company. Find out what they require in terms of estimates for repairs - e.g. how many bids do you have to provide. My insurance adjuster was great and my neighbors who had even more extensive repairs necessary also didn't need a third party to help them. Some of their claims were pretty massive in terms of gutting kitchens; replacing flooring in an entire floor as well as two months of hotel accommodations and meals because they had to move out while repairs were being done.