You should have done this right from the beginning as people suggested on your original thread. Hire a public adjuster, and hopefully it is not too late. You need someone in your corner, always call a public adjuster, period.

My husband doesn’t want to call a public adjuster yet. We don’t really think this is going to be a big settlement and figured we could get the first estimate/offer and then see if we can find an adjuster that would take a percentage only of the extra amount. We have a good policy and I know we are covered for this. I don’t really see what a public adjuster coils do in this speci situation regarding the mitigation company. We could have called a different company but then we would have to pay them directly. We don’t get any money until damages are looked at by insurance company so we are still at the beginning stages.

"We have a good policy and I know we are covered for this"

But how has that worked out for you up this point? You just came here speaking of sabotage and the adjuster not communicating. These are exactly the reasons you hire a public adjuster from day one. You are fighting a losing battle here the longer this drags on. And mold is not healthy for anyone much less toddlers. You refuse to take the advice offered by people who have been thru this and or know what they speak thru business. All we can do is answer your questions which has been done since day one. Up to you to accept the facts or not.

if you don’t offer good or any advice, why post? I have explained what I would like to do regarding the public adjuster! Have you ever used a public adjuster? To be in an informed position of power to you means paying someone thousands of dollars to take control of the situation... what exactly would they be doing for me right now in this situation?? I would still be using this mitigation company because my insurance will pay them directly. Soo how would a public adjuster change that? The insurance company will be giving me a check, no matter what, because we have a contract. A public adjuster can try to get me more money but they do not control anything and can not force anything. So why pay a public adjuster a percentage on the money that I am guaranteed? I will look into hiring a public adjuster after the initial offer if need be and will pay a percentage on the extra amount that they can get! Why throw away money?! So do actually have anything of value to offer instead of trying to lecture me about stuff that I am clearly more informed about then you are?

What questions have you answered? Yea I get it... hire a public adjuster and I’ll ask them!? what would a public adjuster Be able to do for me in this situation? What difference would it make to hire them from day 1 vs day 30? Maybe thousands of dollars? I have already looked at public adjusters in my city specifically that will take cases based on taking a percentage of the extra money they can get me! i haven’t received any advice from others that have been through it other than to pay someone! And yes, I do have a good policy. Maybe not a good adjuster... Idk because I ask questions from people that have gone through it but they don’t answer my questions or give any details about their experience that is relevant... I just get hire a public adjuster. I got that, thank you!

If you can’t or don’t want to help... why comment? I understand what a public adjuster is! Tell me how a public adjuster helped you? Tell me about your experience dealing with a claim and what made you call a public adjuster? Answer a question I actually asked? Be helpful at all? Or you know... don’t comment?

The internet does not suffer fools kindly.

I think an internet site: reassurance dot com would make a lot of money.

I feel it is sad that some people have no one to talk to.

Again... why is it better to hire someone in the beginning vs after the initial offer?? I am asking... but no answer? I have explained why I think it would be better for me... on MY post but no I’m wrong for wanting to save my money for my repairs? if I get $30,000 ... that’s $26000 I get to keep based on 10% fee and deductible. If I get $25000 and they get me an extra $5000 then I get $28,500. So I pay them either $3000 or $500.

I’m sorry you’re going through all this crap. My house was damaged in a storm in April so I know what it’s like to have your life turned upside down. I cannot, however, say that I know what you’re going through in terms of the claims process. I can imagine it’s been overwhelming (and at times maddening...and frightening...and probably saddening), but my timeline and your timeline with regards to the claim process are diametrically opposite from one another. April 15: The storm came through at about 8 pm; we called our insurance company at about 8:05 pm; employee of insurance agency was at our house by 9 pm; remediation company was at our house less than 12 hours later with air scrubbers (they also took a sopping-wet oriental rug back to their facility where it could hopefully be saved); adjuster called that day, April 16, while en route to our house (he was coming from a nearby state) and arrived shortly thereafter—within a day or two...and so on and so forth.

All this is to show what treatment/action you could have received/expected if you really had a good policy.

As for this statement:

We could have called a different company but then we would have to pay them directly.

Is this dictated by your policy? (Who is your carrier, btw?) We hired our own general contractor, right away, without approval or permission from insurance company because he’s the best in town and we didn’t have to pay him out of pocket and then wait for reimbursement.

Edited to add that we did not hire our own adjuster.

What do you want from this forum? There is nothing we can do for you from a distance. This forum is about home renovations of various kinds. It is not about giving you insurance advice or legal advice. We cannot help you across cyberspace with what you have going on. You make it seem like you want an anonymous stranger on Houzz to wave a magic wand and give you pearls of wisdom that will solve the issues you’ve described. That is not possible.

So, get a grip, and either follow the advice here and on your other thread, or look for a non-Internet source for advice, like an adjuster or a lawyer.

This forum is about home renovations of various kinds. It is not about giving you insurance advice or legal advice. We cannot help you across cyberspace with what you have going on.

Actually, Shannon, Home Disasters and Home Repairs are the perfect forums in which to seek advice on how to handle an insurance claim resulting from a leaking pipe.

You asked for advice. Your husband rejected the advice.

It may be better to hire an advocate in the beginning because the owner will become too emotionally involved to proceed. Lawyers often recommend “not representing yourself” because of emotions. Your posts have a lot of emotions.

Why do you think you are qualified to deal with this? You have asked for advice and your husband has rejected the advice.

Mrs. S

Thank you for your meaningful reply. I did not hire my own remediation company in the beginning because I wanted to make sure this would be covered first. Also, by using the company that the insurance recommends, I have more power to actually see the job get done correctly. Yes, this is definitely a crappy company and I’m pissed off... BUT what happened... the insurance company had them come out the next day to address the issues I had. Yes, they caused more damage... but my insurance should take care of it. The damage was done while they were addressing the water/mold remediation 🙄 so my insurance should cover all of the damage. Ridiculous, I know! But I do feel its extra protection. This company sucks but what recourse would I have if I did not use the company that works with my insurance? These guys said they were finished Saturday but my insurance made them come back out. if it was a company that I hired (and all of these companies have good and bad reviews) then I would of had to sign something with them and pay before I had the money to do so. I don’t actually have an extra $5000 right now. a company that does not get work sent their way by the insurance company... and doesn’t need to keep them happy... simply could of choose not to come back and I’m not really sure what I could do without hiring a lawyer. I am not planning on using the insurance contractors for repairs... but that is because I will have a check and be able to hire who I choose. I am annoyed with this situation... but I post to simply hear from others that have gone through something similar. I would like to hear how long the process took for other people. I have no issue paying someone to help me get extra money! I think a public adjuster is a great idea... but I think it’s a better idea to get my initial offer and be able to keep all of it... and then pay someone based off of what extra money they can get me! I dont really have personal property that was damaged so i don’t see how it would have been worth hiring someone right away... and no one decided to explain why this was wrong🤷‍♀️ Everything seems pretty straightforward... like you said, I need new floors, cabinets, countertops, drywall, paint, etc. I don’t have an inventory to create of personal things I need replaced so I would much rather pay someone based entirely off of what MORE they can get me.

Did I not post on the home disaster forum? Usually home disasters involve insurance. I think the public adjuster is a great idea. i think it is better to hire one after the initial offer. If that is so wrong... why? Why does that not make sense? I am having issues right now... this is my first claim and i Don’t know what to expect but I dont understand why it would be better to hire someone right away... how would this situation not be the same at this moment. I would have still used the insurance remediation company because I don’t actually have an extra 5000 to pay a different company right now? It seems that public adjusters are better at getting things included that you normally don’t think about. Well why pay a percentage on the things that the insurance will for sure cover? Even if it’s $10000... that’s a $1000 dollars more for me to keep and then I can get more money after that? So yea i get why a public adjuster is good but do not understand the reasoning to hire them before the insurance offer.

I wonder if this is SPAM because

the OP is a textbook example of why to hire an advocate.

FWIW, the OP could hire a GC to supervise the remediation.

To the OP, are you “cheap”, do you expect to upgrade you home because of this pipe burst. Sometimes, owing a home costs money, it may not be anyone’s fault, but the owner should be prepared to pay for repairs. Yes, we have insurance, but you may not have enough experience and common sense to own a home. You have too much emotional energy and drama to be on the internet.

i Don’t know what to expect but I dont understand why it would be better to hire someone right away.

It would be best because now the insurance company has steamrolled right over a weakened first-timer, without an advocate, and knowingly sent in the bamboozlers. You could've avoided the ensuing bad stuff that happened after the initial damage. (Well, you might've avoided it, anyway).

Again... why is it better to hire someone in the beginning vs after the initial offer?? I am asking... but no answer? I have explained why I think it would be better for me... on MY post but no I’m wrong for wanting to save my money for my repairs? if I get $30,000 ... that’s $26000 I get to keep based on 10% fee and deductible. If I get $25000 and they get me an extra $5000 then I get $28,500. So I pay them either $3000 or $500.

You see, you are still talking about $500 here and $3,000 there. We see $60K to $100,000. For that kind of money, you don't want to pay a %and have the job done right? Where are you living right now? Where in the country are you located?

When you bought the insurance, an insurance agent was paid a %. The real estate agent was paid a % when you purchased your home. You leased/bought a car and the salesperson made a commission. This is how it works. You have a lot of money at stake. You have already made a number of mistakes. You want to cut it off now? Or continue forth with a crap repair, and dealing with crap people? You will end up paying one way or the other. Like my DH says, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.

Meds have probably kicked by now.

Negotiating Strategy 101:

The party with the information has a big advantage.

In your case, the insurance company holds all the information. You probably revealed it was your first insurance claim. You appeared emotional (instead of fact-oriented). You didn't have an advocate handy. You don't know much about repairs. You and your husband may not be on the same page. You sit around and wait while nothing gets done. You consider allowing a fraud and a liar back into your house. You don't exert any control at all in the situation. You have revealed yourself to be the kind of customer where they send the bottom-of-the-barrel team to remediate/repair the damage.

Now, consider if the opposite situation occurred:

You had damage and mitigated right away(using your own trusty, honest plumber)at your expense, knowing you will insist on reimbursement from ins co later. By that I mean, perhaps a bypassed pipe, mopping up of water so no further damage was done, maybe get some fans in there. You have at least a simple understanding of how mold remediation works (fans, ripping out walls, testing for mold by an expert company who gives you documents and pamphlets to explain what to do, what to look for). You have a GC come and write up an estimate of what must be repaired, replaced and what it will cost to do so. You would then understand that it costs money to remove a counter and it risks being damaged. The cost to replace moldy cabinets, walls and floors. You would've reviewed your insurance policy with a fine tooth comb, and had an expert read it so you have a great understanding of your rights. You have investigated somewhere to live while the repairs happen, and how much the ins co will have to spend to pay for that rental/hotel. How much will the move cost? You needed facts and figures. At that point, you would've known this repair will cost a LOT more than the ins co's offer.

Which is the strongest negotiating strategy?

A public adjuster works for YOU! Everyone else is working for the insurance company. Who wants to spend as little as possible on this claim. Not only that, the public adjuster knows what you don’t about what needs to be done. And how timely that needs to be done.

From reading your post, I see that you are really frustrated with the timeline, the insurance company's adjuster, as well as the workers from the company that your insurance company is willing to pay directly.

It's pretty straightforward what needs to happen to relieve your frustrations. From the great Kenny Rogers, you gotta know when to fold 'em. Fold on this hand! This is going to cost you money either way. What's more valuable to you? Your time? Your money? Your sanity?

• You need your own general contractor reviewing the situation, estimating what needs to be done, and getting to work. This might cost you something up front, but the delight of holding the power with the GC you've hired will be a lot better than being stuck between the insurance company and and whoever they pick.
• Hire the public adjuster. Tip the balance of power back.

Just wanted to share that calling the police is probably not going to do anything for you. If a contractor damages your house, that's generally a civil matter (although I'm not an attorney so this is not legal advice). You'd have to document the damage, show that it hurt your wallet, and sue them for the damages.

I'm curious who this company is and what ratings they have from other customers.

The OP has left the building. Evidently they did not want advice even though they asked for advice. Seems to be quite a bit of that lately.

“Karen” 🤔🙄

heehee

OP took their ball and went home. Profile is long gone. You will get no response from them on the subject.