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In mid-June, our hot water heater decided to bite the big one due to a 'manufacturer's defect' -- the drattable thing was still under warranty (Year 4 of 6), so it only cost us $250 for labor to replace, and an argument with Home Depot because they said GE lied, and it was a 'pro-rated' warranty, so we'd have to pay $200 for a new hot water heater, which was a lie. That problem was solved by getting the GE warranty people on a conference call with Home Depot. Home Depot was called out, and the service desk person said they'd been doing it that way for 5 years, so you know Home Depot was scamming people, because no way were they submitting the tank back to GE for 'pro-rated' reimbursement.
But I digress.
So, I carpet shampooed the water up, thinking the problem was solved. We started to notice a small smell, but it was probably the cat box needing changing, right? We went out of town for a few days, and came home a week ago Sunday, and just about fell to the floor thanks to the stench.
Turns out my 'carpet shampooer' hadn't soaked up as much of the water as I thought it had, but my padding and walls had gotten a lot of it. I called my insurance people thinking I was going to need new carpeting, and they gently insisted we get a 'water reclamation' team out to investigate.
They ended up knocking most of two walls down, ripping out a good portion of the carpet, the linoleum in the laundry room, and a chunk of the kitchen. The laundry room base cupboards were toast, and the shelf the laundry tub sat on for drainage purposes was dismantled. Six commercial fans and two commercial dehumidifiers took three days to suck up all the moisture, and we were officially 'uninhabitable' / stayed in a hotel during this time period.
(Please keep in mind I have 16-1/2 month old toddling twins.)
We didn't want to take advantage of the insurance company (who were being really nice), and came back home late Friday (the 4th) after the equipment was removed. We put up fencing and boards around the open exposed wiring, and waited for the insurance adjuster, because if we did anything to start fixing things, we wouldn't get reimbursed, and since we have a $2K deductible (first household disaster, except for trees falling on our cars during an ice storm about 8 years ago) we were doing everything we were told.
Well, Michigan has been having storms, etc. that are pretty fierce, and in the grand scheme of things, (we don't have any trees in our living room), our little disaster is something we can cope with. The lack of a functioning laundry room is driving me crazy, but my most anxious thoughts are about how my incredibly clever babies are already figuring out ways around our Child Proofing Measures.
So, today the insurance adjuster finally gets here. He does his thing, and as my husband and I had discussed, we took the 'payout' because we felt we could get the work done faster than if we waited for their people. I asked about giving any money back that we didn't use, but he said that wouldn't be necessary -- if we saved a little here and there, good for us.
He was really nice, and I can't say enough Good Things about State Farm.
Then the bad thing happened. Because of the amount of our claim, he had to put our mortgage company on the check, too. This confused me, and we discussed it, and what he said (sort of) made sense, but not really. We weren't even really sure who our 'latest' mortgage company is, because we've been sold a couple of times. Apparently, we are now with Bank of America, who were LaSalle last year, who were ABN Amro prior to that, and I can't remember who they were before that, but I know they were someone else when we refinanced six years ago.
So, I track down the local Bank of America (previously LaSalle), and they refer me to an 866-222-8118 number, which is the Insurance division of Bank of America.
They want a copy of the Insurance Adjuster's Report (we'll be getting it in the next couple of days), then they'll send us a package to fill out, including a signed, notarized statement that we will actually FIX the house, then we send that back with the check, wait 2-3 business days, and they'll sign/return the check so we can deposit it.
My head finally exploded. That is a week-to-two weeks worth of waiting JUST TO GET THE DAMNED CHECK SIGNED; then we have the '5 day business hold' while the check clears!!! ARGH!!!
I demanded to speak to a manager, and was told I didn't need to, and I told the lady I didn't care what she said, I wanted a manager. We went round about that for a while, then she agreed to have a manager contact me. Then I called the insurance adjuster, my claim's representative, and my insurance agent (none of whom have gotten back with me yet).
I am livid pissed. Did I mention I'm missing two walls in my living room, a good chunk of carpeting, my washer/dryer can't be hooked up, and my kitchen is missing flooring?
We're a week-and-a-half into 'fixing' the problems that started mid-June, and I can't even explain how absolutely furious I am with my latest-and-greatest-mortgage holder de-jour.
:rant:
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