can i sue my homeowners insurance company

by Guest » Sat Oct 29, 2011 02:25 pm
Guest

My hot water heater broke and dumped 50 pounds of water on the two condos below me. The plumber came out and stopped the leak but there is about 4K damage to the 2 condos below. I called my insurance the next day and spoke to the adjuster and she indicated that everything would be covered by my insurance that I have been paying on for decades. The adjuster told me she would take care of everything and I gave her the name of my management company. I told my neighbors (who had extensive damage that impacts their daily lives) that my insurance co will be in touch and take care of everything. Over 2 weeks later I find out from them that no one has called them and that the management company says I havent done anything. Then I get an estimate for 3K in the mail. Out of the blue, the adjuster calls me (sunday am while Im at church) and I take the call cuz I am upset about the 3 K bill. The says she has been out to my condos and left cards on my nieghbors doors and the neighbors didnt call her back. I asked my neighbors but none recieved a card on the door. We live a locked bldg and someone would have had to buzz her in. I ask her (the adjuster about this) and then she says she went to the wrong place. I am very upset that I was lied to by this adjuster and that she never did come out to our condos and put cards on neighbors doors and I dont for a sec believe she wento the wrong address. My address is simple to find and they have a duty to know where my condo is since they insurance it. I see my neighbor and tell them that my insurance is supposed to be in contact. All the while thier condos are a mess.
I call her and told her about the estimates and bills that I have received and she asked me to fax them to her. But I dont have a fax. I told her I would meet her and she would not do that. Coming to my town was too far for her. I told her that she has a duty to get the bills from the plumber and contractor and the management company. She says no one is calling her back from the management company. I find out later that the first message she left the managment company was after I spoke to her on sunday and told her I wantedd to speak to her supervisor because she wasnt doing anything. I speak to her supervisor and he helps get some things done and helps get the estimate. Then I get a bill (that the adjuster put it writing it would pay) from the management company saying if a 400.00 plumber bill is not paid immediately that I am being refered to our association's attorney (and this attorney is a viper I dont want to deal with her! ). We have a small community. I am so upset that I have this unpaid bill and being refered to collections. I did everything I thought I should do to process my claim and even work with the supervisor and still I am now in collections. I am so embarrassed over this. I have managed to pay all my bills on time during this recession and am a single mom. I ran for community board president a few years ago so the association and board knows me. I lost the election, but the point is that even if the bill is paid the and my credit cleared up, my reputation has been ruined and this will always be on my record and people will still remember it. I am not sure if it has gone to the credit bureau but I wont be able to use this company as a reference ever as a result. The neighborst condos are not finished being repaired. It has been a month now. I did everything I thought I was suppposed to do. I notified the insurance immediately. I told my neighbors the insurance was taking care of it. I was really busy with my daughter who was sick during this time and also work and thought that the insurance company was taking care of the claim. I told the adjuster in the begining if she needed me just to call, not two weeks later! The man on the bottom level has to step over the stuff to get out of his unit. I am very upset that my hot water heater dumped 50 gallons of water on the two condos below. I feel terrible it happened. But to have the company take weeks to even begin to process my claim makes me feel even worse that my neighbors have had to live in this mess with no end in sight. The insurance ccompany is a big national company but they said that they couldnt get to my claim becuz of working on hurricane claims. Why dont they have more adjsters for this busy times? Why did they have to ruin my credit? I have been to the doctors office because I couldnt sleep after getting put in collections--worrying how to pay the additional bill. The doctor documented it. I now even have medical bills as a result. Things are being processed but because I contacted the CEO. The insurance company had sent the managemnt company a check but it had not been cashed....that was yesterday. So they are following up on that. At this point all is going to be fine, but if I dont do something I feel that this adjuster will just do this again to some other client, like me. I feel that I can sue: for having my reputation ruined (collections, neighbors talking, board talking); doctors office; being flat out lied to in the beginiing of this by the adjuster. There might be more. But I am left with bad credit, scarred credit, reputation for not getting things done when something happens, doctor bill and more. Sorry to make this so long part disapeared so I had to retype.Can I sue? Can they drop me if I sue?

Total Comments: 6

Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 03:57 pm Post Subject:

First... you need to take a deep breath and relax. I have no doubt that 1) you are exaggeration a lot and 2) you are over-reacting.

This took 2 weeks to solve? This took 30 days to solve? I doubt anything was reported on your credit and I doubt anything actually went to an attorney for collections. Have you spoken to these neighbors and explained the situation? Do they hate you? What actual damages can you show were done to your reputation?

Sounds like the adjuster did not do a good job. But it also sounds like it did not take long to get on the right track. Sometimes you need to lead people by the hand to get things done. What you should have done is given everyone involved your adjusters information so that they could call the adjuster to address _their_ own losses. That way no one would need to worry about the adjuster contacting everyone.

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 05:54 am Post Subject:

Tcope is right. You really need to find out about your credit record, was it actually hurt?

I don't think you have any reasons to sue the insurance company. Claims do take a little time to get settled, things really don't happen overnight. I know you've been troubled and all of us want our problems to be solved asap.
If you are still infuriated, you may just lodge a complain against this adjuster to the insurance company, no need to sue anyone and trouble yourself.

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 06:55 am Post Subject:

Why dont they have more adjsters for this busy times? Why did they have to ruin my credit? I have been to the doctors office because I couldnt sleep after getting put in collections--worrying how to pay the additional bill.


Why don't they have two Santas in every department store? Why don't they have two McDonalds on the four corners so you don't have to make a left turn?

Asking why they don't have more adjusters "at this time" is just silly. You can't just pull them out of thin air.

But I don't understand the business about "getting put in collections". Who/What "put" you in collections? And for what? Not your insurance company.

There's just too much "drama" here to sort out the truth.

my insurance that I have been paying on for decades.


This does not confer any special privileges on you or your claim. You may have been with the same insurance company "for decades", but the fact is you pay for your insurance one year at a time. There is no look back to see that nothing happened in 2010, 2000, or 1990, that entitles you to special treatment in 2011.

The fact that your entire post is encased in one paragraph says something, too.

Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:15 pm Post Subject:

I agree with the member above that there is not any specific reason on which you can sue the insurance company because claims do take a little time to get settled, things really don't happen overnight..!!

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Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 04:45 pm Post Subject: need help

we had an insurance claim for our celing in our bedroom, because it feel throw the other nigh when we had a bad storm go throw , the insurance people said that because we had a claim 6 years ago that they were not going to help us , they only gave us 355. to fix the roof , we bought 3 large tarps some blocks and a ladder , now they wont help us because they said that we should have replaced the roof then , we got people to come out and look at the roof they all said that it would be 6000.00 + to fix it. not 355, now we have a large whole in our bedroom that leaks ever time it rains ,and we don't have the money to get it fix , :(

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:17 am Post Subject:

now we have a large whole in our bedroom that leaks ever time it rains ,and we don't have the money to get it fix ,



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