[StBernard] Important Info for Everyone!!!!- WES and CRAIG needinput ASAP!!!

[Westley Annis]

My question is in regard to Wendy's question about the recoverable 
depreciation and the low ball figures our insurance company has paid to us.

We owned five properties in St. Bernard Parish, not including helping both 
of our aging parents deal with their insurance companies.  It has been very 
overwhelming too and nothing is fixed completely yet.  We have been through 
flood adjuster and wind adjuster and adjusters who leave town and go back 
home in the middle of your negotioations, so you have to start from scratch 
with a new one.  We have made limited progress because of the slow pace not 
only of the parish but because of the problem of lack of workers and 
supplies.  It is hard to get a contractor to even come out and give you an 
estimate, much less have the work completed.  I know we will not be finished

by Aug. 28.  This means a lot of money to us.  For instance, our insurance 
company paid us $210 for our front door.  The contractor has orderd us a new

door and it has been a month already and the door has not arrived.  The door

actually costs about $700.  This has happened on every item they adjusted. 
They underpaid and will not pay the difference until the work is completed.

We stand to lose a lot of money, it could even be as high as $100,000 with 
all the properties together.  What can be done about this?  Can some 
extension be given?  In our situation I don't think a year is long enough.  
Our adjusters have told us their estimates may seem low to us, so get our 
own estimates, but that is the problem, getting the estimates, and the 
prices seem to keep going up.  We have a replacement cost policy, so our 
insurance is supposed to pay for the actual replacement cost.  Any advice or

help from the politicians on this would be appreciated and is greatly 
needed.

Laurie




>-----------------------------------------------------

>

>Hi All,

>

>     First of all, I am currently in this Northeast torrential rain, and

>trust me, they have no idea of what real "flooding" is. Do you know they

>actually close roads that have water on them and declare them "washed out"-

>who knew!!!! We just keep driving, especially if you can still see the

>stripes on the road, and they think we're nuts up here- hahaha!!! Is there

>no place dry, I mean I am up 972 ft.!!!! All I can say, is I hope they have

>flood insurance- LOL.

>

>   Seriously, this just came up in the last week. As many of you know, we

>face a huge deadline- August 28th. This deadline isn't only for just filing

>suit against insurance companies, but also in order to recover

>"depreciation" as you make repairs to your home. In many cases it could 

>mean

>thousands of dollars to homeowners. My question is to Craig, because of the

>total and complete devestation in St. Bernard, faced by no other parish, 

>can

>the parish pass an ordinance that extends this "one year rule" for

>recovering these funds? Jefferson, Plaquimines, Orleans, etc. faced HUGE

>damages, however, none were so extenuating as those in St. Bernard. Many

>people may not also realize that they can claim this "depreciation" once 

>the

>repairs are made. St. Bernard faced the most unprecedented challenges ever

>seen to and entire parish/county. It took months to just get the EPA to

>declare things safe and very basic services into the parish in order for

>contractors and help for the homeowners to begin recovery. That doesn't 

>even

>include those still fighting insurance companies.  There has to be a case

>for this, or does this need to be addressed by the legislature? AND, if so,

>Craig, are you in a position to recommend to Nita and Walter that a joint

>proposal be done, or can it be passed to the Governor for an "Executive

>Order?"

>     AN example, if a person had a roof damaged and it was depreciated

>(because it was say 3 years old) 20% (about $2500) as a result of wind,

>because the roof was breached, furnishings would be depreciated 5%-20% per

>year owned (regardless of shape before the storm), we'll say $50,000 in

>content depreciated 25% or $12,500, external building, depreciated another

>$4000 of the $12,000 sought- GRAND TOTAL- $19,000. This is a lot of money.

>Will this happen for everyone, of course not. However, after the way the

>insurance industry has treated us in this disaster, if they owe us 1 penny,

>we deserve it. In my case, I could be looking at about $3000, that's all my

>appliances or sheetrock's for my entire house. In any case, it's a lot of

>money to anyone who has lost everything.

>     Second, Craig while I am very aware of the deadline for signing up for

>demolition, is there anyway for someone to apply for an extension. The case

>I have is extenuating in that there was a fire following the hurricane in a

>friend's home. They have only been there once since, and only for a few

>hours, do to financial burdens. Because they have only been home once, 

>there

>has been no real assessment of the damages and whether it would be better 

>to

>demolish or save. They are coming in the first week of June and bringing

>someone to help assess the full extent of the damages more professionally.

>In all honesty, the decision would be made by about the 8th of June. I know

>they can do whatever with their property, however, the additional costs of

>razing may be hard to absorb if they have to totally rebuild. Is there

>anything you can do to help with this?

>    Thanks as always for everyone's help and input- stay dry, I'm treading

>water!!!

>

>

>Wendy Hall