Back in the Saddle

I've been really busy lately and not had time to write. I'm behind in many areas of my life right now, especially with my photography business. The crux of the matter is that we had a storm blow through the area a few weeks ago, the same one where the tornadoes hit Pekin, East Peoria and Washington, as well as other parts of Illinois. We did not take a direct hit, but we did suffer wind damage at our house. The roof of our house was heavily damaged, and the winds also ripped our shed off of it's foundation, moved it a few feet and dropped it. It is made of metal and is quite twisted and was literally sitting on top of some of the stuff that was inside the shed. One of the doors has never turned up. Since that time, it has been a continuous battle with the insurance. It took them 2 weeks to get an adjuster out to see us. In the meantime, we had to do some repairs to the roof to protect our home. If you don't, and you suffer more damage, the insurance will not cover that damage. 

So... When the adjuster finally shows up, he was a major jerk. Indicator one... he called us on Thanksgiving. I mean, seriously? You wait two weeks and then you call us on Thanksgiving and DEMAND that we meet you the next morning? Then when he arrives, he looks at the house and says, "It's not that bad."  I commented to him how that while we were not even in the same category as the folks over in Washington, this was in fact my house and I considered it bad. We had already had two independent contractors come out to examine the house (and do some repairs) and both told us the damage to the roof was in excess of $16,000 damage, not including the part which we had already paid $2,800 to repair before we had more damage. And then there was the matter of the shed and the contents of it. This adjuster pretty well accused me of filing a fraudulent claim, saying that the flat part of the roof was fine. It was/is not fine. It was torn loose and flying in the wind. To prevent further damage, we had one of the contractors pull the rubber membrane back down and nail it down. The adjuster said, "well, I can't see the damage and in my estimation it is just fine." Both contractors have stated that this membrane will rip off with the first good wind we have. He said, "Well, if that happens, then you file another claim."  He also said that he felt like they could "get by" with replacing two sides of our roof." (Our roof has four slopes to it and is flat on top.)  The contractors have both said that there are loose shingles all over all four sides and that they will not last.  Long story short, this guy wants to pay $6800 TOTAL when our loss is in excess of $20,000. My agent says it is ridiculous. The contractors say it is ridiculous. But of course, State Farm Insurance thinks it's great. We've already paid $2800 to fix the back flat portion. The shed is around $1000 plus contents, which leaves less than $3000. Even if we were to replace the 2 slopes as he suggests, it would cost more than $6500, and that is not including the rubber membrane on top. I absolutely hate it, but I think my only option left is to file a law suit against my own insurance company.  

This should be fun.