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Ack!

 

MIL called. Her next door neighbor changed his car battery and his car blew up, she said 3 “explosions”, and caught his house on fire! 

 

She called from her neighbors house, saying the fire department soaked her house, but won’t let her back in. 

 

Are you, REALLY ready, for an emergency?  

 

She said, “Don’t come down”.  Ok, 6 1/2 hours &have to rent a motel/hotel?!?  Not. 

 

Thank God for outstanding neighbors. 

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Talked to MIL. She’s OK. Badly shook up. Paramedics checked her out, at the request of many of her neighbors. 

 

A couple of her neighbors frantically beat on her door, when she opened it, they quickly got her out and across the street. 

 

The neighbor had his car battery replaced earlier in the afternoon, after he parked in his carport and went into his house, the vehicle exploded, several times, blowing out Mom’s 2 bathroom windows, the side of her house is charred, the rafter paint is blistered, the grass is charred and her AC ground unit, is probably fried. She had the AC people coming today for the annual inspection and now they have something to really inspect. 

 

The fire department told her to call the insurance company last night, and made sure her AC unit was completely turned off. The insurance people are supposed to come today.  

 

Hopefully, they will repair her house quickly. I am scheduled to go next Wednesday, but might bump up my time frame.  

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Oh my!  What an odd thing!  I would say you might have to hurry down there to keep her steady and making non-shock-induced choices.  :(   Glad she has such great neighbors who ran to fetch her away from the danger!!!   Did they check under her eves...sparks into those vent things?  Wheeew!

 

:hug3: for you all.

 

Will be praying for MIL.....you....neighborhood....

MtRider     :amen:  that she's all right, basically.

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No smoke damage. She clarified the windows are shattered, with a small hole in one. AC is gone, estimate to replace the whole thing, $10,000.  :0327:

 

I will be leaving in the morning to help get all the inspections, repairs done and give her support... she started crying when DH told her...  

 

 

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21 hours ago, Annarchy said:

I will be leaving in the morning to help get all the inspections, repairs done and give her support... she started crying when DH told her...  

 

:hug3:    Of COURSE you will run to her aid in her hour of need.  And yes, she will need you.  It will be a bloomin' MESS with the paperwork, etc.  :wacko: 

 

 

:o   that picture looks just AWFUL!!!  The man over there was okay too?  Aiiiiiyiyi! 

 

Tell her of our concern and prayers...for you both.

 

MtRider  :pray:  

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The neighbors got him out in time. He just left from visiting Mom. 

 

I left around 4am, got here in time to meet the gas company.  The meter melted and she had a gas leak. They are done for now, but will be back to replace the whole line. 

 

The electric company inspected the lines, all ok.  However, her phone lines are are melted, they will be here in a couple of hours.

 

The insurance company has inspected the damage and Mom will get a primary check in a couple of days.  

 

The contractor is due in a few minutes, to inspect and get started. Mom definitely wants the bathroom glass removed & boarded, until they can fix it. 

 

This is nuts!

 

 

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On my. Do you know what kind of car it was? It looks like an older Jeep Liberty. Yikes.  :o

 

Looks like a meth lab explosion. I'm sure your MIL appreciates you greatly. You are so good to her. Don't over stress yourself.   :hug3:

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I've watched my house burn, and after two years of fighting for it, walked away with the insurance company owing me $40,000.  They would cover this replacement but not that one, and so on with me sometimes sitting down with the guy to cover the exact same receipts more than six times.  Have her get a lawyer.  My life would be different today if I'd had one.

P.S.  I'm a lawyer.  Insurance companies know how to wear you down.

Edited by Ambergris
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That’s sad, Ambergris. 

 

I think “A” said it was a Subaru or Nissan.  He looked so lost & frazzled today.  He was able to do a walk through with his agents. Then, come over and talked with Mom for a bit, before more people came to do stuff with him. He couldn’t quit apologizing to Mom.  :(

 

The contractor is supposed to come over again tomorrow morning with a mason & a moisture professional, to determine the extent of the damage. Her other neighbor said the fire department detected several ‘hot spots’ in her attic and the hosed down the vent in her attic. Until they open it up, they won’t be able to see how much damage is there, if any. Anyway, the contractor will be getting the obvious supplies to repair the burnt part of the roof, rafters, and windows tomorrow & begin the work on Friday. They boarded the window that had blown out. 

 

The insurance inspector assured Mom that the check is to get started on fixing her house. Until her house is completely fixed, her claim will remain open. He also said they, her ins. co. will go after reimbursement from ‘A’s insurance and or the car battery issue and that might take years. 

 

The sprinkler that was in that area was melted, and 2 of the hoses. I will be fixing that tomorrow. She really wanted to water the yard today....  

 

 

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UNBELIEVABLE!!  I'm so glad you're there, Annarchy!!!   This looks like it's going to be an overwhelming mess.  And then if insurance tries any hooha like Ambergris is talking about...  :tapfoot:  You'll be there to kick 'em in the shins....so to speak. 

 

My mouth dropped open at the pic of A's house.  Do they know what exactly happened with that battery??  :scratchhead:  He would be in shock.  But neither of them was injured....but both might be "fragile" for a while. 

 

Are you able to stay in the house?  .... or where?  Praying for you all...including A.   Poor guy.   :pray: 

 

  .....one moment can change everything.  But the most important did not happen.  Those two are fine.  All will be well, eventually. 

 

MtRider  .....sorry to hear of your story with insurance companies, Ambergris.  Cheaters make me so mad!  :angry:  

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Mom’s house is livable, just no AC/heat. Supposed to be highs in the 60’s Friday!  High 80’s yesterday. 

 

The insurance inspector assured mom, they will pay for a hotel/motel if needed.  

 

No word on the car battery, except he had it replaced.  He didn’t do it himself. 

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Prayers are extremely welcome. 

 

Update, A came over. The fire inspector said, the battery cable on his Honda, caught fire, probably 1/2 hour before he got home. The first explosion was probably the brake fluid, secondary explosions were probably the tires. 

 

A, who lives alone, is beside himself. He came over for a couple hours today. His insurance is being generous, letting him buy some clean clothing, etc.  His house will need to be rebuilt, from the foundation up, nothing is salvageable. 

 

The neighbors that sent us the initial pictures came over to for several hours. 

 

I got the replacement hose, sprinkler & adjustments this morning & installed it while they were here, before dusk. Whew, they work right. Tomorrow I’ll get the back yard working, God willing.

 

AT&T came in & fixed her DirecTV. Turned out, her dish wasn’t in alignment and the connector to the main line was a Time Warner connection, years old.  Fixed and her TV’s are all crystal clear now. Nuf said.  TMI info, from AT&T workers & DTV. Even tho they bought them out, there’s a LOT!  of contention between the companies...

 

The roofer came, and gave MIL his assessment of the roof, in Spanish. Arg, I don’t know it at ALL!  But mom translated what he said. 

 

Told DH I may not be able to go home on Sunday, and he was OK with it, I guess.

 

Neighbors said they saw flames on mom’s house. I printed the pictures I took, at WM, and they definitely show the boards had caught fire. 

 

Gaaawww, this is frightening.  God be blessed her house didn’t go up in flames and that it wasn’t windy. Had it been windy, the whole neighborhood would have gone!  Several people, who have come over, have said they were put on hold at 911!

 

Anyway, tomorrow I hope to get a lawyer, even tho MIL doesn’t think it’s necessary, and talk to the contractor to express the need to expedite the repairs. I need to run my business, and can’t while I’m here.

 

The insurance company has already given me red flags, by saying, “...minus depreciation...”. That’s not gonna work!  

 

 

 

 

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Rx....  More :hug3:  and :pray:    for Annarchy

 

and more  :hug3:  and :pray:    for MIL. 

 

Lawyer.....you'd THINK it would be pretty straight forward.  :sigh:  But reality is.....everyone's a cheat.  Go with that and be happily surprised if it turns out to be false.  :sigh: 

 

MtRider   :pray:  ....  :amen:   for the things that DIDN'T happen.....

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What a tragedy for A, and a bad scare for your MIL!  Many, many years ago my mother's home burnt to the ground taking both of her beloved pooches.  She was gone to her doctor's office and they had to call her there (no cell phones then).  We met her there and I'll never forget the look on her dear face.  She and the 2 boys lived with us for several months while she settled with the insurance company.  DON'T SIGN NOTHING until you're sure all payments are made and correct!  We were allowed to go through the debris 2 weeks later and try to find anything that was salvageable.  That's another smell one will never forget!  God was truly looking over the humans and your MIL's home.  Also such a blessing that you are in a position to go and be there to negotiate this path for her.

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Thurs. evening, got an email saying a deposit had been made, but it didn’t say how much. Mom checked her account in the morning, nothing. We went to the bank & opened a new checking account, so she can keep everything related to this separate. She’s listed the cost of opening it as an expense & is going to include the cost of the checks.  

 

However, when I checked my email early yesterday morning, there was another notice, “Settlement Notice”. I googled fire lawyers & found one that will work on a contingency basis. I don’t think I jumped the gun on that, because the amount they said is supposed to be deposited, less ‘depreciation’, is very low.  The insurance adjuster said it’s a standard letter they send out after any deposited money. I was adamant that he remove “electronic correspondence” from her account. Mom does not have text, smart phone or a computer!  All correspondence MUST be handled on paper and the phone.  He didn’t like it. I don’t care.

 

Mom seems to have everything under control, and I decided, with the exception of getting the lawyer going, I’m going to let her handle everything. 

 

 

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I’m quite irritated.  Mom loves to talk to everybody... :sigh:

 

Neighbors keep coming over every time the contractor comes & I’m unable to talk business. 

 

The lawyer finally called me back, they are going to read her ins. policy & let me know if they will take the case tomorrow. God willing they will. :pray::pray::pray:

 

Mom is insistent on getting what she wants, & the insurance is low balling her badly. Making out of pocket expenses over $10,000. She doesn’t have that kind of money, she said she’d have to get a loan. :shakinghead:

 

I’m ready to go home....

 

 

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2 hours ago, The WE2's said:

Insurance companies are NOT in the business of paying claims...they are in the business because they DON'T! :fryingpan:

 

Exactly! 

 

Boy, did the adjuster get on my last nerve today. 

 

Lawyers said, until they don’t pay, then, they can help, gave me valuable information to approach the insurance company with. Mom has the full, expensive coverage, full replacement NOT full cash value policy.  Meaning, they have to pay to repair all the damage, without depreciation. 

 

We went to the insurance office, asking for a printout of her complete policy, not the brief description they send at policy renewal. It’s supposed to be being sent in the mail.  Then, we talked with them about the “depreciated”  amount they sent her to get the work started, stressing she’s 88 y.o. and living with no heat or cooling and she’s paid the contractor over half of the first deposit, to get the work started and that the AC people require 1/2 down and the rest at completion, but they can do it in one day.  And she doesn’t have that kind of money. 

 

We had a conference call with the adjusters supervisor, gave them copies of the estimates and copies of the printed photos I took.  You should’ve  seen the Lady’s shock in her eyes when she saw the pictures. 

 

Just as I pulled back into the driveway, her adjuster called.  I unlocked the front door and went to take pictures of the work the contractors were doing on her roof, when she called me over, after yelling at him, “What am I supposed to do, go to h*ll!”  & handed me her phone. That joker told me he hadn’t received the first AC estimate or the 2nd.  I went off.  We watched him, 4 witnesses, take a picture of the original estimate paper, $10,000.  I sent him 2 texts with the second estimate $8,500.  And sent him a text of the contractors estimate AND the contractor talked with him and sent him the proposed estimate!!!  I asked what he wanted, stop the people doing the work until he got his act together and allowed payment to get her AC back on? In the mean time she has a heart attack, cause she’s without heating, in 90+ heat or 50* cold..?  I told him, “That tells me what type of person you are..”

 

Amazingly, even though, I explicitly told him to remove my email from the system, I got an email saying they’d made another payment.  

 

The insurance office took care of mom when she had the car accident, and know her and her age.  The agent tried to assure me that they would make sure everything was paid quickly, and they said they understood I left work to help her get this fixed. They had to help her up from the chair and into their office and back out.  

 

She is really getting frail.  :sigh:  

 

So.... I will be heading home tomorrow morning. Some things came up that need my attention. Mom has this situation well under control. God willing. :pray:  Otherwise, I be back after I get the other issues dealt with. 

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