Charley vs. Andrew: One Person's Perspective
Features • September 20, 2004
Twelve years ago last month, Hurricane Andrew hit Homestead and became the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
Sadly, on this anniversary, thousands of Floridians again suffered the ...
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Subject: What about hurricane Ivan?
Posted On: November 22, 2004, 9:00 pm CST
Posted By: barbara3d
Comment:
We have been in contact with the Insurance Commissioner's office that referred us to the attached statute since Ms. Lowen told me during our last conversation that the law states "We have to have everyone adjusted by 11/18/04 for Ivan". I guess implying that you have until 12/18/04 to settle our claim. This was after she told us back in October that we were "simply NOT eligible for ANY ALE".
I am also listing the link to the statute. I have faxed and e-mailed Valerie Lowen (as well as Superior Claims office) my ALE expenses of $7,126.40 as of rent paid on12/1/04. I requested a response, but as usual, none was forthcoming. This amount does not even count the $2,934.00 we had to pay just to get our attic (6 stories in the air) partially repaired to keep the roof from falling in with the next rain. We have received over 9 inches of rain since Ivan on 9/16 and received not one penny to plug one leak. I finally received a check for $1500.00 for ALE after 2 weeks of unreturned phone calls, and actually "begging". That was small comfort after spending all our savings to pay a total of $10,060.00 (ALE plus the attic damage). I do not think the attic damage was caused by flood, do you? 36 feet in the air?? Nationwide Flood and Federated National both have refused to pay for a structural Engineer, so we paid it to prove our house could not be lived in until the roof , rafters and mold were repaired/removed. We cannot continue to pay these expenses and NEED ALE advances that are "appropriate"...please read the statute. I do not think that .02% of what we have PROVED we paid is "appropriate"!
You know, most people would be ok if people would be honest, return phone calls, and be helpful. However, to be ignored after you have lost 50% of your home, including all your clothes and the ability to inhabit and/or go in and out of the home to retrieve property to put into an apartment that you rented after 2 nights of sleeping in your car...is heartless. Ms. Lowen does not know the law, does not behave as a professional, or in the best interest of people who contracted the services of Federated National. Every time I go to my primary home to work and see the sagging roof, the mold/mildew, and rot, I just feel despair, betrayal, and abandonment by the people we trusted for this need. The treatment has been like" pouring salt into wounds". In addition, we are the kind of people who are very frugal. We did not "live in the style that we were accustomed to". Instead, my husband crawled through a hole in the bedroom floor, went up to a balcony and took a rope to lower our patio furniture down to use for our dining table in our small apartment. We did not charge for food because we felt we would eat whether we had a hurricane or not. We bought an airbed from Wal-Mart for our children to sleep on when they came down to help.
I go online to see how the company is breaking even, and how they receive FEMA funds and I just do not understand. I am mailing a copy of this letter to every body who might listen. I am out of patience, money, and my husband and I are both going to the doctor this week because of flu symptoms and sores on our hands and arms from working ourselves to death shoveling mud and trying to fight the mold. We empty 3 gallons a day from the dehumidifiers that we finally could start up once we finally got electricity. Our credit cards are sky high and we are paying interest on money that we will NEVER get from insurance. At this point, I am ready to hire a lawyer and close up the house. My husband is almost 70 and we cannot continue to work and keep up 2 homes under these conditions. I will not let him continue to kill himself trying to do everything with no help from Federated National! The customer service is a disgrace. It does not cost anything to treat customers with respect, and to return phone calls. I believe 12/8/04 is YOUR deadline. It has been 68 days since Ivan destroyed our home and lives, and the clock just keeps ticking... and the home of our retirement and hard work just keeps rotting.
http://www.fldfs.com/companies/pdf/690ER04-19.pdf
Subject: What about hurricane Ivan?
I am also listing the link to the statute. I have faxed and e-mailed Valerie Lowen (as well as Superior Claims office) my ALE expenses of $7,126.40 as of rent paid on12/1/04. I requested a response, but as usual, none was forthcoming. This amount does not even count the $2,934.00 we had to pay just to get our attic (6 stories in the air) partially repaired to keep the roof from falling in with the next rain. We have received over 9 inches of rain since Ivan on 9/16 and received not one penny to plug one leak. I finally received a check for $1500.00 for ALE after 2 weeks of unreturned phone calls, and actually "begging". That was small comfort after spending all our savings to pay a total of $10,060.00 (ALE plus the attic damage). I do not think the attic damage was caused by flood, do you? 36 feet in the air?? Nationwide Flood and Federated National both have refused to pay for a structural Engineer, so we paid it to prove our house could not be lived in until the roof , rafters and mold were repaired/removed. We cannot continue to pay these expenses and NEED ALE advances that are "appropriate"...please read the statute. I do not think that .02% of what we have PROVED we paid is "appropriate"!
You know, most people would be ok if people would be honest, return phone calls, and be helpful. However, to be ignored after you have lost 50% of your home, including all your clothes and the ability to inhabit and/or go in and out of the home to retrieve property to put into an apartment that you rented after 2 nights of sleeping in your car...is heartless. Ms. Lowen does not know the law, does not behave as a professional, or in the best interest of people who contracted the services of Federated National. Every time I go to my primary home to work and see the sagging roof, the mold/mildew, and rot, I just feel despair, betrayal, and abandonment by the people we trusted for this need. The treatment has been like" pouring salt into wounds". In addition, we are the kind of people who are very frugal. We did not "live in the style that we were accustomed to". Instead, my husband crawled through a hole in the bedroom floor, went up to a balcony and took a rope to lower our patio furniture down to use for our dining table in our small apartment. We did not charge for food because we felt we would eat whether we had a hurricane or not. We bought an airbed from Wal-Mart for our children to sleep on when they came down to help.
I go online to see how the company is breaking even, and how they receive FEMA funds and I just do not understand. I am mailing a copy of this letter to every body who might listen. I am out of patience, money, and my husband and I are both going to the doctor this week because of flu symptoms and sores on our hands and arms from working ourselves to death shoveling mud and trying to fight the mold. We empty 3 gallons a day from the dehumidifiers that we finally could start up once we finally got electricity. Our credit cards are sky high and we are paying interest on money that we will NEVER get from insurance. At this point, I am ready to hire a lawyer and close up the house. My husband is almost 70 and we cannot continue to work and keep up 2 homes under these conditions. I will not let him continue to kill himself trying to do everything with no help from Federated National! The customer service is a disgrace. It does not cost anything to treat customers with respect, and to return phone calls. I believe 12/8/04 is YOUR deadline. It has been 68 days since Ivan destroyed our home and lives, and the clock just keeps ticking... and the home of our retirement and hard work just keeps rotting.
http://www.fldfs.com/companies/pdf/690ER04-19.pdf