Posted On: October 6, 2004, 9:27 am CDT

Posted By: Joy

Michael, I sure do understand your concern for your uncle and hopefully he chose a good insurance agent that took the time to properly insure the house. Homeowners policies in the state of Florida must be written with replacement cost on the dwelling. The question is, did the agent properly figure the replacement cost when the policy was written? I've been in the insurance industry since 1976 and for the most part, the company will bend over backwards to be fair. There are cases when it seems like the company couldn't care less, but that's the exception that the news media dwells on and not the rule. They report on 2 or 3 incidents that are negative instead of the thousands that are positive. It's hard to see now, but in some ways, your uncle's situation is better than someone who only had half their house damaged. When the house is gone, generally speaking, the company will pay the limit on the policy to have the house rebuilt. It's when there's partial damage that it can get really crazy.

Please know that I am praying every day for the victims of these hurricanes and specifically in the area of insurance settlements, that the settlements will be done as quickly as possible and in all fairness to the insured. I don't have any answers to why these things happen, but I know the God of the universe cares deeply for the people that are hurting. :-)