homeowners insurance in not responding to my needs?

Question

"i came home from a trip a few days ago. i found my front door kicked in, all of
my electronic gone, jewelry, and even my clothing gone. most of anything left
has been dameged.the insurance company had me to call a company to have the
doors secured. I have burgler bars across the back of my home, however there was
a key in the house that the burgle now has. I have no home for now, no cloths
and I'm do to return to work on Saturday. the insurance company says they will
get around to a walk through sometime next week he thinks. the insurance claims
ajuster also asked why don't I just fix the door and the locks and go home.The
policeman that went in with me at the time I discovered the breakin said it was
the worst and most malishus he had seen. The insurance man that i took out the policy with told me
that he was coming out to walk through the process with me. when I called today
a was told he no longer as of TODAY work there. no other information was given.
The Insurance company has left me out there with no help and no anwsers. Each
person I speak to tells me to call someone else. I've even been asked by someone
at the insurance company, what I thought they should do for me. I need help
where do I turn? what do I do?"

Answer 1

What exactly DO you want them to do?

The purpose of insurance is to assist you financially when you have suffered a loss that is covered under your policy. Your policy does not include a cleaning service, a contractor, and a bodyguard.

Since you have suffered physical damage to the dwelling, you should contact the repairer of your choice to provide you with an estimate. The insurance adjuster will likely be able to reccomend someone in your area if you are not familiar with anyone. Even if the adjuster is coming out sometime in the near future to look at the damages and write an estimate, you'll still need a contractor to DO the repairs. You might as well have someone lined up who can talk to the adjuster should there be any problems with the cost or scope of the repairs needed.
If you have no front door, and need a door, GET A DOOR! Same with the locks. It is your responsibility to complete any repairs necessary to protect the property. The cost to replace the door is covered on the policy. The replacement locks MAY be covered depending on the policy, but you'd want those anyway, right?
As far as cleaning up the place, well, the insurance company is not going to do that for you either. You'll have to get back into the house to go through the stolen/broken items anyway, so you might as well get back there as soon as you can. If you're concerned about cleaning and moving things or making necessary repairs before the adjuster comes out, just document everything. Take photos before you do anything so the adjuster knows what it looked like as you discovered it. Keep a log of the time you spent doing the cleaning, typically the adjuster will give you an hourly "wage" allowance for the time you've spent to clean up the place. I'd clear it with the adjuster if you plan on hiring a cleaning service.

Move all the damaged property maybe into one room or out to the garage, DON'T THROW ANYTHING AWAY until the adjuster sees it.

You'll need to complete a list of all items either stolen or damaged both for the police and for the adjuster. Typically the adjuster will not pay for an item that is not listed on the police report. So you will want to complete your list of stolen property and give that to the police department ASAP. Gather any receipts you may have for the stolen property, owner's manuals, etc. Anything that proved that you owned the item in the first place. The adjuster will want all this too.

If they stole or damaged basically EVERYTHING you have, then replace the necessities and KEEP ALL RECEIPTS! Keep in mind that the adjuster will only reimburse you for like kind and quality to that which you had, so if they stole your $30 shoes, don't go out and spend $100 and expect that they'll reimburse you for it.

The bottom line is that while your insurer will assist you financially for your loss, it's your house and therefore your responsibility to present your claim to the adjuster. Not the other way around.

Answer 2

Repair your doors - replace the locks and hold onto your receipt. Then go home.

You have a responsibility to mitigate your damage. That means to not make it worse. If you have left your home unsecured, then you have not mitigated your damage. If it is cheaper to fix your door and go home rather than living in a hotel - then fix the door and go home.

If every single stitch of clothing was stolen so you have to run around naked...borrow clothes from a friend of family member and go to Walmart and pick up a few out fits. Again, save your receipts. These can be turned into the insurance company.

If your in really bad straights.. call the Red Cross. They frequently step in to help homeowners who have lost everything they own in a total fire loss.

The insurance company will have to do an investigation. They may give you a Proof Of Loss to complete as well as a personal property inventory. They will take a recoded statement from you. If this has been a big theft, they may not be out there the next day with a great big check. Unfortunately, dishonest people will stage home break ins to commit insurance fraud. As such, all large thefts have to be investigated and an investigation takes time.

You have a head on your shoulders, now is the time to use it.

Answer 3

Nope, there are way too many variables, especially LOCATION. Even assuming your house needs to be insured for $300,000, depending on the location, construction, age of house, policy type, endorsements, and your credit rating, the premium could be anywhere from $900 a year to $6,000 a year. You'll have to talk to your agent - who, btw, should be able to give you a ball park figure.