Insurance follies

I may have mentioned that a storm blew off some of my aluminum siding, and I had to file a claim — which is something I have studiously avoided.

For years, we’ve had hail storms that slightly ding aluminum siding, and siding salesman have come by trying to convince me I can file a claim. I don’t believe in that sort of nonsense — the dents were hardly noticeable — so I never have.

But this was actual damage. Not only what you can see in the pic, but some other places where the siding was pulling away.

Allstate claimed they only covered the “elevations” (what you or I would think of as a side) that were damaged, and that they weren’t responsible for color matching. They’d have it painted to match, but if it didn’t match exactly, them’s the breaks.

I thought that was crappy, but it basically worked out like this. They were going to pay me $10K for the stuff they would replace, and the siding company would charge me $15K to re-wrap the whole house in vinyl. I was willing to pay the $5K difference. Seemed fair enough.

After the work was done, and I was supposed to get the rest of my money, Allstate started backing off on what they were going to pay me. (Remember that insurance companies make money by collecting payments and not paying out claims.)

They said they were only liable for the two elevations, and that since we did them in lower-cost material (vinyl rather than aluminum), they were only responsible for a portion of the $15K — that is, the percentage of the total cost represented by the two sides.

That was nonsense for several reasons, the most basic and obvious being that by re-wrapping the entire house, we eliminated the need for painting, which they were going to cover. (Although the quote they gave on painting was way out of line with the market around here.) Also, it’s to their advantage as well as mine that I now have brand new siding.

Anyway, after several arguments with my adjuster, then his supervisor, then escalating to the next supervisor, they finally paid me what they had originally promised, although they never admitted they were wrong. I didn’t care about that. I just wanted the money.

The lesson I learned from this is that you should get as much stuff in writing as possible. E.g., I should have gotten them on record that I was due the $10K if I did the whole house in vinyl. Two different contractors — who work with insurance companies all the time — said that was a sure thing. But I should have obtained written assurance from the insurance company.