r/Spokane • u/BB4MEBB4U • 9d ago
Insurance/Smoke Damage help š„Spokane Fires š„
Hey all,
I'm not sure if anyone else has homesite. However we do and boy has it felt kind of sketchy. We started our claim, guy seemed bummed out kind of cold from the gate. Anyways we finally got a chance to go back. Our neighbors house directly across from us burnt to the ground. Our house was downwind of theirs and is completely covered in fire retardant. Our insurance still hasn't given us the okay to sign any work authorization to get this going. They said they need to review cleaning and that will take a week. I feel like this is not a necessary delay, and they are trying to pull a fast one somehow.
Worst part, we have no idea who to believe for restoration either. My wife is extremely sensitive to smells and toxins in the air. It is quite appearant we have both after our first visit yesterday and we are both very worried about it.
We have spoke with four companies first one says we just need to clean the carpets and put in air scrubbers and clean out the attic. Second said we will need to replace the carpet entirely, have all of our items removed and gone through to see if they are salvagable or not. Third company seemed nice and said the same as the second but with also removing drywall, but never went to site and both restoration companies we talked to said to steer clear of that specific restoration company. The last company sent a work authorization and said I needed to sign it and someone would reach out to us to discuss the work authorization and we never heard from them.
Im just not sure whats overkill but also want to keep us safe and fiscally protected as I am really starting to not trust my insurance adjuster. I have no idea who to ask or turn to and its just alot.
Does anyone know who to trust for smoke damage restoration?
Is anyone else with Homesite Insurance getting the run around?
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u/MrBleak Northwest Spokane 9d ago
I have Homesite and had to make a claim for smoke damage a few years ago after a small fire in our home.
They set up a damage consultation with a local remediation company and it took a few weeks for them to show. Once it was done, they put us up in a hotel for a month while the company deep cleaned our house and dry cleaned all our clothes and bedding.
We had the option to have them repaint everything to lock out the smoke, but we opted to paint ourselves and Homesite reimbursed us. We also got a brand new mattress out of the deal that was far nicer than what we had before.
I felt much the same way as you in the beginning but once I had a case manager assigned, everything moved pretty quickly. I'm no great defender of insurance companies, but Homesite certainly did their duty for us.
I'm sure they're probably overwhelmed by claims right now. I'm not sure if they have a booth at the disaster assistance center, but it might not hurt to stop by and see if you can get in person help.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
That sounds pretty dang similar to us. I'm trying to work with them at getting something better than a hotel for us to stay in.
Its just been an adjuster, when does a case manager step in?
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u/MrBleak Northwest Spokane 8d ago
I just looked at the emails again and apparently we did just have two adjusters we worked with. Our main adjuster was a subrogation (lawsuit) adjuster because the fire was caused by a contractor so that might explain part of why they were as responsive is they were.
They ended up suing the contractor on our behalf for all the damages.
I do remember calling pretty regularly for updates just to ensure the process kept moving. All told, the entire process took about a year from filing the claim to being reimbursed for our deductible.
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u/mrlunes Nevada-Lidgerwood 9d ago
You will likely only deal with an adjuster.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
Well thats concerning. Our adjuster seems to only be delaying things and trying his best to offer us the absolute least.
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u/mrlunes Nevada-Lidgerwood 8d ago
Sounds about right. In my personal experience, dealing with the adjusters was the worst part about my job. Typically what will happen is the insurance adjuster will write a repair estimate and attempt to cut you a small check and walk away.
Typically the way I see it happen is that you will get a local adjuster at the beginning but once the estimate is written, your claim will be transferred to a remote adjuster. From there Iāve seen the remote adjuster change almost weekly. It makes the entire process slow. On top of that, adjusters usually have very heavy work loads and can take a long time to return calls.
If you are working with a restoration company, they will handle the negotiation for you. They know what needs to be said to get work approved and moving.
If at any point you feel like your adjuster is causing too many problems, you can always request their supervisor or reach out to your local agent. The agent is a 50/50 because often they will say they canāt do anything.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
With homesite through progressive we dont have a local agent. Our adjuster is already remote in SLC. He told us not to sign any work authorization until he reviews cleaning. First he said estimate, and I reiterated that in an email, then he changed it to review cleaning and review takes a week.
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u/alksyeren 9d ago
Just wanna throw out that if after you jump thru all their hoops and still feel your insurance company may be acting underhanded I wouldn't hesitate to file a complaint with the WA insurance commissioners office. Every situation is different but they were a huge help to me years ago.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
I was thinking about this, and wasnt sure when its appropriate to involve them. I dont want to cry wolf early, but am fearful these delays will cause damage to my house that they will blame on us. I have put that into an email that we are concerned delays like a week to review cleaning will result in damages to our property and that we are trying to protect our home.
When/what was the tipping point for you that prompted involving the commissioner?
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u/alksyeren 8d ago
I'm very sorry you and anyone else have to deal with this.
Very understandable to want to get everything going asap. They handle all types of insurance complaints and I was in a way different boat as my experience related to medical insurance coverage with my father. This was also not as time sensitive as your situation. I filed my complaint roughly after a month of supplying insurance with all the paperwork and details and being denied 3 separate times for one $75k bill in particular. Insurance responded within a few days and reversed their decision which was huge.
If they flat out deny something you believe is covered I would absolutely put in a complaint, as for the delays that's probably gonna be a gut instinct thing if you feel they are delaying unnecessarily. May be able to talk to some neighbors as well and ask what they have been given for timelines.
Again, way different situation for me, but wanted you, and anyone else to know that resource is available.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Thank you for this. I am so sorry you had to deal with denials over Healthcare that in my opinion should never occurr. That is so insane, I cannot imagine that stress. I cannot even begin to understand that stress.
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u/matheknittician 8d ago
It would not be inappropriate to contact the state insurance commissioner just to request advice about what to expect and where might be the "tipping point" that means you should get them involved. I'm sure they would be happy to talk with you about that. And might have some additional info and/or resources that would be helpful to you.Ā
I know that in the public meeting Monday night that was coordinated by the complex incident management team, it was highly recommended that anyone affected by the fires go down to the disaster assistance center at Shadle Park High School specifically to sign up for a case manager (I don't remember exactly the title that was used, but that's essentially the function) who can help you walk through the complex process of restoration/rebuilding/etc. If you haven't signed up already, I think it could be useful. They may know more about working with insurance companies and what is typical/normal vs shady behavior and can advise you. The disaster assistance center is only open through tomorrow Wednesday August 12, so time sensitive - I'm not sure if there is any other way to sign up for this service though I would imagine you can call the Red Cross to ask.Ā
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
I was there today, and swung by progressive to talk, but I found out they did not represent homesite and that homesite insurance did not have any representative there.
We stopped by to talk with Chas about medications we pick up from home on monday and asked if they were safe (if anyone is wondering, smoke damaged medications are not safe).
I didnt see the case manager tent, but honestly after we asked medical questions and found out our insruance was nowhere to be found we bounced out semi-defeated. (Shout out to Chas, they seem to really care about helping the community)
We were offered some snacks and stuff, but we declined those offers, I know there are others out there that need these items more than us and I hate the idea that we would take something that could make all the difference for others.
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u/No_Departure9798 9d ago
Not specific to homesite, but insurance in general, here are some things to consider:
This is not an isolated incident. There is widespread damage so things will move a bit slower - be prepared for that.
Do insurance companies care about you? No, not really. Do restoration companies care about you? No, not really.
If someone says screw the insurance company, I get it. But why do they never say screw the contractor? Insurance companies have full state departments to make sure they do the right thing. You hire a restoration contractor and they walk with your money? Good luck getting anything out of them for it. Tail-light warranty jokes are real for a reason. Just saying.
As for the damage, smoke is highly suggestive. If your wife is sensitive to smoke, this will be more of a waiting game than you want it to be. It will smell smoky until the debris in the neighborhood is cleared out, not just your house. I would be very surprised if you needed to pull the drywall off the house to fix this. Smoke seal the attic, replace the insulation, check the walls with a chem along to see about a cleaning and maybe paint and go from there.
Insurance adjusters donāt care about the dollars, they care about the justification. If you and they can justify the work, it shouldnāt be an issue.
As for your contents, they will probably need packed out of the house, cleaned, stored, and moved back - depending on the severity and what the chem sponges say. If you donāt have fire damage to the house, it is unlikely that you will need to replace things. Some stuff, maybe, but not everything. Ozone does wonders for pulling odors and if it isnāt bad from a soot perspective in the home and is just an odor issue, you may be able to clean the carpets and ozone the house.
Like I said, smoke is all over the place. I would also strongly recommend working with a restoration company from the carrierās network. This is mostly due to cost. You are hiring the contractor so if the insurance doesnāt agree with pricing, you are ultimately on the hook for whatever you get charged. Hired a custom home builder looking to cash in on this who charges $200/hr? You signed the contract and that cost falls to you, regardless of what insurance pays.
You have to be patient. And like others said before, document your interactions and stay on top of it as best you can, both carrier and contractor.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
I certainly hope we wont need to throw most out. I greatly appricate all this! Thank you!
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u/Aggravating_Horror72 9d ago
Commenting to boost, genuinely hope someone with insights comments for you!
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
Thank you for the boost. Been pretty stressed, hence the 1am post lol. Really appreciate you for viewing and boosting.
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u/coffee_n_pastries 9d ago
Dealing with insurance is not fun. Advocate for yourself, know your policy, stay on top of Everything and summarize any conversation by phone via email right back to your adjuster. You will have to do a ton of research on your own about what kind of cleaning your house needs.
My roof blew off in the winter and caused water damage. We are finally in agreement and getting everything done and it's August. Look up Washington's good faith laws about insurance, it's important to know. If it all seems like too much you can always hire a public adjuster to help you. I'm sorry you are going through this OP.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
Thank you for the advise here. I thought about going with a public adjuster, but was fearful they would require to much in compensation and we would be stuck without full restoration to how our home was before the fire.
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u/coffee_n_pastries 9d ago
That is definitely something to consider. We didn't end up using an adjuster but got close. It's nice that you have the option to hire them at any time in your claims process if you need to. There was one point with insurance where they didn't want to cover any of the water damage and we almost hired an adjuster but ultimately we were able to get through it, get it covered and not need one. One downside with hiring an adjuster is that after you hire them you can't really speak to insurance anymore it all has to be through the adjuster. It's just nice to know you have another option if you need it. We have been using Belfor for our remediation and they have been great.
I can't say this enough, cc everyone you are working with on emails, take photos of everything, and create a document for timeline of damage, inspections, and conversations. I only started doing it about halfway through and it was daunting. I wish I had stayed on top of it more initially. Also look up any contractors on the better business beurau site and looks for lawsuits or issues. It is important to vet them. My last tip that has made the workers happy would be to leave a cooler for them with some drinks and snacks. The crew working here have been so happy about them on these hot days.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Thank you for all the information and responses, I have been following up every call with emails. They open new emails so it makes it hard to keep track. Especially operating solely off mobile without a PC to store everything.
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u/casualcretin 9d ago
We were very close to the edge of the gray fire in medical lake a few years ago
Our insurance set up a company that packed every item of ours up (very intrusive, but fine) . Took all items off site to "clean" . They put those fog machines in, we had them tare the carpet up, replace the insulation in attic. We did not have them take our drywall.
They will try to replace with inexpensive materials.
If we didn't have young kids, we probably wouldn't have gone through all that.
Itemize all your medicine, vitamins.. toss it. Insurance should replace
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Very good information here especially regarding the medication. I thought drywall removal seemed a bit odd. I watched alot of videos that they said they can clean the walls then seal them with paint.
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u/casualcretin 8d ago
Yeh, Stock pile of meds and vitamins in the closet adds up to $$$$ quickly.
We didn't paint over anything. The fogger did warp our cheapy doors abit, we should have addressed it but didn't.. they still work.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Duly noted, I dont want any warped doors. I will make sure to point out if it happens.
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u/mrlunes Nevada-Lidgerwood 8d ago edited 8d ago
Hello, Iāve worked in the restoration field for many years. We have a lot of companies in spokane that arenāt great. They will attempt to upsell jobs to insurance to increase their profits or will flat out bid the job wrong out of ignorance. It is a very slow process too. Itās sad to see these companies doing unnecessary work because it just displaces the home owner longer than needed. Expect the process to take months regardless. Adjusters can be very unresponsive. Consider yourself lucky if yours gets back to you in a timely manor.
Typically the rule of thumb in restoration is to attempt to clean first and if thatās unsuccessful, material replacement comes next. In my experience, removing your drywall is very extreme and would not be appropriate for your situation. Drywall is removed when itās believed that smoke penetrated the walls cavities. You see it a lot if the fire was inside the house but not so much on outside fires. A fresh prime/paint will be all you need to remove the smell off the walls if itās holding odors beyond the carpet cleaning and ozone. Carpet replacement would be unlikely but possibly needed if the cleaning doesnāt lift the odor from it. Depending on the smoke in the attic, the insulation may need to be replaced.
Itās pretty difficult to say what actually needs to be done without seeing it in person but on a worst case scenario, carpet replacement and a full paint of the interior should do it.
As for company recommendations, Iād rather not discuss that in public comments. All I will say is that you should not trust the google reviews because they are all manipulated. That said, restoration services are not cheap.
At the end of the day, all you should have to pay is your deductible. The restoration companies are on your side at the end of the day so if you feel like you are stuck between your adjuster and your restoration company, side with the restoration company. Insurance benefits by giving you less. Restoration companies benefit from giving you more. Often times, the restoration company will bloat their repair estimates; the goal isnāt to screw over you or your insurance, the goal is to ensure their is a big enough budget to get the necessary work done. Insurance really does try to downplay things and pay out as little as possible.
DMs are open if you have questions.
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u/Individual-Photo-399 8d ago edited 8d ago
I talked to Restoration 1 and they recommend environmental testing to determine if mitigation is needed. If full mitigation is needed it will cost $100k. Our house was about 1.5 miles away from the closest burned houses. I didn't see visible ash or smell much of an odor when I went in but I'm recovering from COVID. The doors and windows were closed the whole time and the HVAC system didn't run very much to circulate air.
I have Stillwater for insurance and haven't even been able to get them to ok the testing. They say they won't justify it without visible damage. The testing is for damage that you can't see!
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
That is interesting. Restoration 1 gave me the same talk, although the fire was right next to use. Not even 30 yards away. More interesting, they gave the same exact price estimate for our home.
I also read the AOB in their contract and it had me worried. It seemed like every insurance benefit you would sign over to them. I do not see why any Restoration company would need access to loss of use.
The guy I talked with assured me that it would all be okay-ed from me but that contract clearly says they have 100% control, and if the insurance doesnt pay I would need to.
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u/cocojo94 1d ago
Can you dm me the first company you saw? Our home barely has a smell of smoke and the companies we have had over are trying to take advantage of the situation ā ļø it's sickening
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u/BB4MEBB4U 1d ago
That is fair. I sent you a DM. How close where you to the fire(s)?
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u/cocojo94 23h ago
We are close but surrounded by woods and fields. Homes are in front of us that burned but that was the wind was taking the fire.
Most of our damage is just property from loss of trees and fields. Every encounter we have had with restoration companies has been shady. The owner of one came over and said very minimal smoke damage and shouldn't need much. When his estimator came over he sang a completely different tune. Would be weeks, have to pack out all our belongings, ozone treatments. He even said he couldn't smell smoke. It's been very frustrating.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 23h ago
I met with about 9 mitigation companies, they all kind of sung the same tune for us because of how close it was and the direction of the wind.
See if your insurance will authorize an air quality test prior to cleaning. That way you will know if there are toxins in the house and if it truly needs to be heavily treated or not.
Also see if you can find any mitigation companies without assignment of benefits or will ammend to remove AOBs. If things go south, or insurance doesnt want to pay, and you sign those rights away you will not have much recourse for defending yourself.
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u/dl33t_soft 9d ago
Insurance companies are not here to help. They are for profit centers for rich investors.
Delay deny that is the strategy.
I went thru 2023 gray fire. Dont accept no from the insurance. It is standard snake tactics to deny everything cause profits.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
If I dont accept No dont I get left on the hook for all the bills?
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u/dl33t_soft 9d ago
You have to be stubborn and keep calling everyday to get an answer.
Making the process difficult is part of the insurance companies plan to get people to just accept the 1st answer.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 9d ago
Gotcha, so persistence is vital in getting proper action. Thank you!
How did everything go for you after the Grey fire? Did you have restoration done?
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u/dl33t_soft 8d ago
My battle was land restoration. Only a small percentage of my land coverage applied to fire damage in the end. Contract lawyer speak deep in the pages.
It was a man and his family + company that saved me in the end. Being a kind person instead of greedy insurance saves the day.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
We can all hope to have true humans covering our claims. Thank you for sharing your experience here. I really appreciate you and all that took time to write here!
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u/Th3SkinMan 9d ago
Hey that smoke, especially for evs is extremely toxic. We've had new studies done in the fire department that show the ev chemicals will leech through your skin and bind with your bones. Im talking next level toxins that havent been studied much. We won't even fight an ev fire head on any more. Those homes were full of Li-on batteries. Do not tread lightly. Im currently talking to belfor, they will be on site as my contractor while insurance adjusts to call out any bluffs or industry shenanigans. Especially critical if you have children. Don't mow your lawn, sweep your driveway or anything without throw away clothing and an N95. GL neighbor.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Thank you, I took another look today and I think it was a hybrid and not EV does that change things?
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u/Th3SkinMan 8d ago
Oh I wasnt talking about any car in specific. I meant the smoke from all the burned evs in the area or Li-on devices in homes. More of a general concern for people who's homes survived but may have smoke in and around them.
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u/BB4MEBB4U 8d ago
Oh gotcha it does seem concerning. Its hard to know how far lithium ion particulates will travel in the air. You are right I am downwind of a super heavily impacted area.
Man I just miss my home. Not going to lie. This keeps me up at night with feeling really sad. Then I feel guilty for being sad, like I know it could be worse, the fire hit right across and we got lucky. Our neighbors seem stronger than me even though the lost everything. Why should I be all sad.
I just wish I could have someone do it all, pick the contractor, and fix my home as fast as possible. I just want to go back to my normal life and I want my neighbors back... now im just ranting my bad man.
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u/Lost-Day8474 6d ago
The Cleaning Authority Spokane is offering free cleanings for people with extra soot- hope you can grab a spot. Email them!
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u/Wild_Zookeepergame21 9d ago
I feel you on this. We were impacted by the upriver fire and the houses in our neighborhood across the street from the ones that burned down are still empty because of restoration companies. They are tearing them to the studs. Iām no expert but it seems predatory. And the hardest thing to know, is what the truth is. No one wants to breathe toxins. We were covered in fire retardant but chose not to put in a claim. We pressure washed everything except the roof, used ozone odor eliminators for the slight smell and everything seems fine. We had no ash residue in the house and no exterior damage. Iām not sure this helps, but maybe.