Dump Your Home Owners Insurance ---They Won't Pay

[Oldguy]

Again, for those who skipped 3rd grade civics:

No President allocates money. That is the job of the House Of Representatives.

The House allocated these funds, but has not released these funds.

Take it up with John Boner.

The left sure blamed bush for Katrina

Maybe it was that "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" to the motherfucker who did nothing while the Superdome teemed with people who had no food or water for 4 days? Ya' think? As Sarah says, "You betcha'". Bush was too chicken shit to do anything except fly over on Airforce One. Obama at least got off the plane and toured with Christie.

Actually, Brownie wasn't doing that bad a job. FEMA can only respond when a state asks for help and the hold up for relief of New Orleans was Gov. Blanco's disaster staff, not Brownie. FEMA offered all kinds of things to Louisiana, but the Governor's staff never responded. On the 2nd or 3rd day after Katrina, Brownie flew down to Baton Rouge and walked into the state office, only to find them sitting there staring at the TV watching New Orleans flood and not having a clue what to do next. They were nearly immobilized by what they saw, so Brownie essentially took charge and things began to happen. If you doubt this story, note the difference between FEMA's response in Mississippi and in Louisiana during the first couple of days. Gov. Barbour's staff was better organized.

Brownie basically fell on his sword to protect his boss.

Incidentally, I've worked 3 hurricanes in Louisiana (Katrina, Gustav, Issac) and each one was grossly mishandled by the state. They don't ever get any better at it. Help was slow arriving, at the wrong place and things not even needed stockpiled by the truck load. After Isaac, we Baptist's and the Red Cross operated out of the Alero Center in Westwego, LA for the first couple of days after the storm. In fact, everybody was there, including FEMA, the State Police and the National Guard. When the state began to distribute relief checks to the victims, it was the most screwed up operation I'd seen since Katrina. People were not allowed to park on the center's parking lot and had to stand in lines literally half a mile long all day without food or water. I saw them do the same thing in Covington after Katrina.

The upshot was that the state kicked us all out of the Alero Center on about 4 hours notice. They really didn't give a damn if we stayed to help or not. They just told us to get out.

Judging ANY disaster by what goes on in Louisiana is unfair to everybody else.

 

[Synthaholic]

Boy, that's a long way from the coast. I didn't realize that kind of tree damage occurred that far inland but, I guess all it takes is one weak tree and a little wind.

No, actually it is the drenching rains that first soften up the ground, and then a strong wind comes along and topples the tree.

Hey, here's an idea: have any trees that might, you know, FALL AND CRUSH THE HOUSE removed or trimmed. Personal responsibility, have you heard of it?!?!

You should do that, then!

 

[Ringel05]

Here's my neighbor's house the day after Hurricane Sandy hit....six months ago.

As of today April 29, 2013 the tree has been removed but the house has remained untouched. It has essentially been a bowl all winter for rain and snow. Much has been taken out and set on the curb to be taken away by the garbage trucks because of mold and water destruction.

The sides of the house and roof have started to collapse inside the walls. I suspect there are all manner of furry four-legged creatures who have taken up residence inside. We know of several feral cats who are living in there now.

Encompass Insurance has let this happen. Their assessment was that she just needed a new roof over the second floor. That's it. My neighbor paid her homeowner's insurance for 22 years only to get this. Save your money, cancel your property insurance. It is a huge rip off, especially if your home is damaged from a large, widespread natural disaster. FEMA has done shit around New Jersey. This is a huge failure on the part of Obama's admin. Chris Christie is still fighting the good fight.

Have them contact these people.

NJ Department of Banking and Insurance - Home

 

[Synthaholic]

It is a political problem when FEMA is supposed to be helping and both Bush (Katrina) and Obama (Sandy) have not taken up the task of making the program work.
If you are in this then you know that many parts of the Jersey shore are still closed off to traffic.

Insofar as the private, large insurance companies go, they are laying off people in the metro NY area right and left and sending jobs to Asia. They will survive Sandy. They will. Many victims of Sandy here in New Jersey won't.

The house in the photo is just outside Princeton Borough and the insurance company Encompass took the trees out. Oddly enough, they pay to have the lawn mowed once a week now that the weather has warmed up. But fix the house? Hell no.

Boy, that's a long way from the coast. I didn't realize that kind of tree damage occurred that far inland but, I guess all it takes is one weak tree and a little wind.

We had lots of trees down. I lost 5 trees on my property alone. Most of the forestation on the west side of New Jersey are really, really tall trees.

We couldn't even leave our immediate neighborhood for several days because 2 big trees were leaning against the power lines at the entrance to our cul-de-sac and only PSEG could touch them. Once we got out of here we could only go a mile or two in any direction because of trees down across major streets and/or power lines down. No power at all for 7 days.

About 2 weeks later I trained into Manhattan and it looked like a freaking lumberyard alongside the tracks until we got closer to New Brunswick. Trees just stacked up along side the rails.

Everyone around here is talking about how FEMA hasn't done a goddamn thing.

That's because the teabaggers in the House of Representatives are holding up FEMA's money.

 

[Synthaholic]

The left sure blamed bush for Katrina

Maybe it was that "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" to the motherfucker who did nothing while the Superdome teemed with people who had no food or water for 4 days? Ya' think? As Sarah says, "You betcha'". Bush was too chicken shit to do anything except fly over on Airforce One. Obama at least got off the plane and toured with Christie.

Actually, Brownie wasn't doing that bad a job. FEMA can only respond when a state asks for help and the hold up for relief of New Orleans was Gov. Blanco's disaster staff, not Brownie. FEMA offered all kinds of things to Louisiana, but the Governor's staff never responded. On the 2nd or 3rd day after Katrina, Brownie flew down to Baton Rouge and walked into the state office, only to find them sitting there staring at the TV watching New Orleans flood and not having a clue what to do next. They were nearly immobilized by what they saw, so Brownie essentially took charge and things began to happen. If you doubt this story, note the difference between FEMA's response in Mississippi and in Louisiana during the first couple of days. Gov. Barbour's staff was better organized.

Brownie basically fell on his sword to protect his boss.

Incidentally, I've worked 3 hurricanes in Louisiana (Katrina, Gustav, Issac) and each one was grossly mishandled by the state. They don't ever get any better at it. Help was slow arriving, at the wrong place and things not even needed stockpiled by the truck load. After Isaac, we Baptist's and the Red Cross operated out of the Alero Center in Westwego, LA for the first couple of days after the storm. In fact, everybody was there, including FEMA, the State Police and the National Guard. When the state began to distribute relief checks to the victims, it was the most screwed up operation I'd seen since Katrina. People were not allowed to park on the center's parking lot and had to stand in lines literally half a mile long all day without food or water. I saw them do the same thing in Covington after Katrina.

The upshot was that the state kicked us all out of the Alero Center on about 4 hours notice. They really didn't give a damn if we stayed to help or not. They just told us to get out.

Judging ANY disaster by what goes on in Louisiana is unfair to everybody else.

While I agree with your last sentence, I disagree on the rest. FEMA had Federal jurisdiction. They had the levees, which are "maintained" by the Army Corp Of Engineers. Bush gave authorization to FEMA. You can't try to blame that ninny Ray Nagin as if he was the controlling authority. Or even the state government.

If that was James Lee Witt running FEMA it would have been an entirely different outcome.

 

[Synthaholic]

This is definitely worth your time:

The Big Uneasy | A Film by Harry Shearer


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24biguneasy.html?_r=0

 

[Zona]

Here's my neighbor's house the day after Hurricane Sandy hit....six months ago.

As of today April 29, 2013 the tree has been removed but the house has remained untouched. It has essentially been a bowl all winter for rain and snow. Much has been taken out and set on the curb to be taken away by the garbage trucks because of mold and water destruction.

The sides of the house and roof have started to collapse inside the walls. I suspect there are all manner of furry four-legged creatures who have taken up residence inside. We know of several feral cats who are living in there now.

Encompass Insurance has let this happen. Their assessment was that she just needed a new roof over the second floor. That's it. My neighbor paid her homeowner's insurance for 22 years only to get this. Save your money, cancel your property insurance. It is a huge rip off, especially if your home is damaged from a large, widespread natural disaster. FEMA has done shit around New Jersey. This is a huge failure on the part of Obama's admin. Chris Christie is still fighting the good fight.

You are a fucking idiot.

God bless.

 

[Oldguy]

Maybe it was that "You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie" to the motherfucker who did nothing while the Superdome teemed with people who had no food or water for 4 days? Ya' think? As Sarah says, "You betcha'". Bush was too chicken shit to do anything except fly over on Airforce One. Obama at least got off the plane and toured with Christie.

Actually, Brownie wasn't doing that bad a job. FEMA can only respond when a state asks for help and the hold up for relief of New Orleans was Gov. Blanco's disaster staff, not Brownie. FEMA offered all kinds of things to Louisiana, but the Governor's staff never responded. On the 2nd or 3rd day after Katrina, Brownie flew down to Baton Rouge and walked into the state office, only to find them sitting there staring at the TV watching New Orleans flood and not having a clue what to do next. They were nearly immobilized by what they saw, so Brownie essentially took charge and things began to happen. If you doubt this story, note the difference between FEMA's response in Mississippi and in Louisiana during the first couple of days. Gov. Barbour's staff was better organized.

Brownie basically fell on his sword to protect his boss.

Incidentally, I've worked 3 hurricanes in Louisiana (Katrina, Gustav, Issac) and each one was grossly mishandled by the state. They don't ever get any better at it. Help was slow arriving, at the wrong place and things not even needed stockpiled by the truck load. After Isaac, we Baptist's and the Red Cross operated out of the Alero Center in Westwego, LA for the first couple of days after the storm. In fact, everybody was there, including FEMA, the State Police and the National Guard. When the state began to distribute relief checks to the victims, it was the most screwed up operation I'd seen since Katrina. People were not allowed to park on the center's parking lot and had to stand in lines literally half a mile long all day without food or water. I saw them do the same thing in Covington after Katrina.

The upshot was that the state kicked us all out of the Alero Center on about 4 hours notice. They really didn't give a damn if we stayed to help or not. They just told us to get out.

Judging ANY disaster by what goes on in Louisiana is unfair to everybody else.

While I agree with your last sentence, I disagree on the rest. FEMA had Federal jurisdiction. They had the levees, which are "maintained" by the Army Corp Of Engineers. Bush gave authorization to FEMA. You can't try to blame that ninny Ray Nagin as if he was the controlling authority. Or even the state government.

If that was James Lee Witt running FEMA it would have been an entirely different outcome.

Once the levees were breached, there was nothing anybody could do about it until the water had run its course. They tried blocking the hole in the Industrial Canal with giant sand bags, but it didn't work and it was far too late for the Lower 9th Ward anyhow. Most of the other levees did not collapse, but were simply over-topped by too much water. Even FEMA can't stop that and nobody can get in to do anything more than rescue so long as the water remains.

It was a unique situation with unique results. Yes, things could have been done better. That's always true and every disaster is a learning experience, but something like Katrina and Sandy don't come along all that often. Comparing them to other disasters would be akin to comparing the invasion of Panama with WWII. It's just not the same thing.

 

[Oldguy]

This is definitely worth your time:

The Big Uneasy | A Film by Harry Shearer


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24biguneasy.html?_r=0

Thanks, but I've seen that before.

On the subject of other levees, I cringe every time it rains in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The levees along the Sacramento river are probably the most unstable anywhere and there are a LOT of people who live there.

But, who wants to spend the billions it would take to upgrade and fix levees? Certainly not the GOP House. Yet, that's what it will take to avoid another major flood disaster in dozens of different places. It's not a question of IF it happens, but when and where.

The inescapable fact is that rivers and the ocean can't be held back forever. People live near water by choice and, eventually, they'll be wiped out. And, no, it's not practical to move them. New Orleans is a great example. After Katrina, the idiots were running around in circles saying, "Abandon the place. Move it!" Move it to where? Where do you "move" the second busiest port in the United States and 600,000 people to? Wyoming?

 

[auditor0007]

Clearly the only solution for a homeowner is this...

When you know a hurricane is coming QUICK, accidently burn your house down.

At least THEN your insurance will pay off for the damages.

how many years do you get for arson? dummie?

You are such a grump that you have absolutely no sense of humor.

 

[Againsheila]

When our roof lost shingles due to a windstorm and one of our fences was knocked down, I had an insurance adjuster out within 2 days and money a week later to pay for repairs. When our kitchen caught fire, they paid for the new floor, new counter tops, new facet, painting everything was good as new, no problem. I have USAA, it's a non profit insurance company for military retirees and their dependents and I don't think there is a better insurance company in the world. Cheaper maybe, but not better.

 

[Oldguy]

When our roof lost shingles due to a windstorm and one of our fences was knocked down, I had an insurance adjuster out within 2 days and money a week later to pay for repairs. When our kitchen caught fire, they paid for the new floor, new counter tops, new facet, painting everything was good as new, no problem. I have USAA, it's a non profit insurance company for military retirees and their dependents and I don't think there is a better insurance company in the world. Cheaper maybe, but not better.

Yes, some insurance companies do pay off like they're supposed to. But, there's a downside even to that. After having to file claims for a hail damaged roof, a car wreck which wasn't our fault and flooding due to a malfunctioning washing machine, we got a letter from our carrier warning us that one more claim within a specified period might result in them dropping us as a customer.

 

[lynn63]

Why bother having insurance, paying year after year in premiums when the time you do have a claim they find any excuse not to pay for it. This happens constantly with auto, health, home, etc. and regulations on these insurance companies needs to be enforced.

Insurance companies is the biggest scam and they are literally getting away with not fulfilling their obligations when a claim arises. People should not accept their excuses and we should not have to take extreme measures to get them to pay.

 

[Synthaholic]

Actually, Brownie wasn't doing that bad a job. FEMA can only respond when a state asks for help and the hold up for relief of New Orleans was Gov. Blanco's disaster staff, not Brownie. FEMA offered all kinds of things to Louisiana, but the Governor's staff never responded. On the 2nd or 3rd day after Katrina, Brownie flew down to Baton Rouge and walked into the state office, only to find them sitting there staring at the TV watching New Orleans flood and not having a clue what to do next. They were nearly immobilized by what they saw, so Brownie essentially took charge and things began to happen. If you doubt this story, note the difference between FEMA's response in Mississippi and in Louisiana during the first couple of days. Gov. Barbour's staff was better organized.

Brownie basically fell on his sword to protect his boss.

Incidentally, I've worked 3 hurricanes in Louisiana (Katrina, Gustav, Issac) and each one was grossly mishandled by the state. They don't ever get any better at it. Help was slow arriving, at the wrong place and things not even needed stockpiled by the truck load. After Isaac, we Baptist's and the Red Cross operated out of the Alero Center in Westwego, LA for the first couple of days after the storm. In fact, everybody was there, including FEMA, the State Police and the National Guard. When the state began to distribute relief checks to the victims, it was the most screwed up operation I'd seen since Katrina. People were not allowed to park on the center's parking lot and had to stand in lines literally half a mile long all day without food or water. I saw them do the same thing in Covington after Katrina.

The upshot was that the state kicked us all out of the Alero Center on about 4 hours notice. They really didn't give a damn if we stayed to help or not. They just told us to get out.

Judging ANY disaster by what goes on in Louisiana is unfair to everybody else.

While I agree with your last sentence, I disagree on the rest. FEMA had Federal jurisdiction. They had the levees, which are "maintained" by the Army Corp Of Engineers. Bush gave authorization to FEMA. You can't try to blame that ninny Ray Nagin as if he was the controlling authority. Or even the state government.

If that was James Lee Witt running FEMA it would have been an entirely different outcome.

Once the levees were breached, there was nothing anybody could do about it until the water had run its course. They tried blocking the hole in the Industrial Canal with giant sand bags, but it didn't work and it was far too late for the Lower 9th Ward anyhow. Most of the other levees did not collapse, but were simply over-topped by too much water. Even FEMA can't stop that and nobody can get in to do anything more than rescue so long as the water remains.

It was a unique situation with unique results. Yes, things could have been done better. That's always true and every disaster is a learning experience, but something like Katrina and Sandy don't come along all that often. Comparing them to other disasters would be akin to comparing the invasion of Panama with WWII. It's just not the same thing.

Hurricane Andrew was pretty devastating. And was $26 billion in damages in 1992 dollars, and is still the 4th costliest ever.

Within Miami-Dade County alone, the storm destroyed about 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others.

President GHW Bush worked with our Governor and everything went very smoothly.

 

[Oldguy]

While I agree with your last sentence, I disagree on the rest. FEMA had Federal jurisdiction. They had the levees, which are "maintained" by the Army Corp Of Engineers. Bush gave authorization to FEMA. You can't try to blame that ninny Ray Nagin as if he was the controlling authority. Or even the state government.

If that was James Lee Witt running FEMA it would have been an entirely different outcome.

Once the levees were breached, there was nothing anybody could do about it until the water had run its course. They tried blocking the hole in the Industrial Canal with giant sand bags, but it didn't work and it was far too late for the Lower 9th Ward anyhow. Most of the other levees did not collapse, but were simply over-topped by too much water. Even FEMA can't stop that and nobody can get in to do anything more than rescue so long as the water remains.

It was a unique situation with unique results. Yes, things could have been done better. That's always true and every disaster is a learning experience, but something like Katrina and Sandy don't come along all that often. Comparing them to other disasters would be akin to comparing the invasion of Panama with WWII. It's just not the same thing.

Hurricane Andrew was pretty devastating. And was $26 billion in damages in 1992 dollars, and is still the 4th costliest ever.

Within Miami-Dade County alone, the storm destroyed about 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others.

President GHW Bush worked with our Governor and everything went very smoothly.

Like I said: all that often. 23 years passed between Andrew and Katrina. For many American's, that's their whole life. Our institutional memory isn't that long.

Disaster responses are the domain of the states. They have the ultimate responsibility and not every state is as adept as the next one. It's just one of those "states rights" issues we have to deal with.

And, it's not just governments which can drop the ball or do things that make you scratch your head and say, "Huh?" Our SBC response to the High Park Fire in Larimer County, CO last year is a good example. The Colorado Baptist's don't have a very big disaster relief ministry (yet), so they called upon we Okies for assistance. We responded en masse and got a very good operation going there and at the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs (at the same time that we were also responding to fires in New Mexico and, shortly after, fires in Oklahoma). After a couple of weeks of diligent effort, we had the response running like a well-oiled machine and we turned it over to our California brothers to carry on.

You'd think the California crew would be the experts at managing a fire disaster, right? I mean...after all...who has more experience? Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case. According to what I've heard from those who were there after the transition, they screwed it up royally.

The point is that disaster relief, whether from a government entity or an NGO is very much dependent upon the individuals involved and the institutional readiness to deal with it. Some people and organizations are very good at it. Regrettably, some are not. A lot of what we may perceive as problems in disaster management, the rules and regulations and contingency plans etc, are nothing more than attempts to standardize responses across the board and in every circumstance, to account for the differing levels of ability.

It will never be perfect because there are no perfect people to plug into critical positions.

 

[Crackerjaxon]

Complaints should be filed with the state insurance commissioner, or whatever board regulates insurance in the appropriate state. Calling state representatives wouldn't hurt. Insurance adjusters will chisel all they can from people. It's what they do. It may be possible to interest an attorney in the case.

 

[Synthaholic]

Once the levees were breached, there was nothing anybody could do about it until the water had run its course. They tried blocking the hole in the Industrial Canal with giant sand bags, but it didn't work and it was far too late for the Lower 9th Ward anyhow. Most of the other levees did not collapse, but were simply over-topped by too much water. Even FEMA can't stop that and nobody can get in to do anything more than rescue so long as the water remains.

It was a unique situation with unique results. Yes, things could have been done better. That's always true and every disaster is a learning experience, but something like Katrina and Sandy don't come along all that often. Comparing them to other disasters would be akin to comparing the invasion of Panama with WWII. It's just not the same thing.

Hurricane Andrew was pretty devastating. And was $26 billion in damages in 1992 dollars, and is still the 4th costliest ever.

Within Miami-Dade County alone, the storm destroyed about 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others.

President GHW Bush worked with our Governor and everything went very smoothly.

Like I said: all that often. 23 years passed between Andrew and Katrina. For many American's, that's their whole life. Our institutional memory isn't that long.

Disaster responses are the domain of the states. They have the ultimate responsibility and not every state is as adept as the next one. It's just one of those "states rights" issues we have to deal with.

And, it's not just governments which can drop the ball or do things that make you scratch your head and say, "Huh?" Our SBC response to the High Park Fire in Larimer County, CO last year is a good example. The Colorado Baptist's don't have a very big disaster relief ministry (yet), so they called upon we Okies for assistance. We responded en masse and got a very good operation going there and at the Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs (at the same time that we were also responding to fires in New Mexico and, shortly after, fires in Oklahoma). After a couple of weeks of diligent effort, we had the response running like a well-oiled machine and we turned it over to our California brothers to carry on.

You'd think the California crew would be the experts at managing a fire disaster, right? I mean...after all...who has more experience? Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case. According to what I've heard from those who were there after the transition, they screwed it up royally.

The point is that disaster relief, whether from a government entity or an NGO is very much dependent upon the individuals involved and the institutional readiness to deal with it. Some people and organizations are very good at it. Regrettably, some are not. A lot of what we may perceive as problems in disaster management, the rules and regulations and contingency plans etc, are nothing more than attempts to standardize responses across the board and in every circumstance, to account for the differing levels of ability.

It will never be perfect because there are no perfect people to plug into critical positions.

I agree with your general comments, but I believe that you prepare for success by preparing for success. And you don't do that by appointing a horse show judge to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It was just cronyism. Brown was a good friend of a big Bush supporter and campaign manager Joe Allbaugh.

He was the first person hired by his long-time friend, then-FEMA director Joe Allbaugh,[11] who also ran Bush's election campaign in 2000.

Also, during Andrew, you didn't have teabaggers in Congress holding up money to FEMA like you do now.

 

[Oldguy]

And you don't do that by appointing a horse show judge to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It was just cronyism. Brown was a good friend of a big Bush supporter and campaign manager Joe Allbaugh.

Yep, but that's the system we have and we just have to deal with it. Politics matters.

On the other hand, what experience would qualify someone to hold the position of FEMA director? Or, any federal bureaucracy for that matter?

Also, during Andrew, you didn't have teabaggers in Congress holding up money to FEMA like you do now.

Yep, and all the while seeking federal money for disasters in THEIR states!

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

Why bother having insurance, paying year after year in premiums when the time you do have a claim they find any excuse not to pay for it. This happens constantly with auto, health, home, etc. and regulations on these insurance companies needs to be enforced.

Insurance companies is the biggest scam and they are literally getting away with not fulfilling their obligations when a claim arises. People should not accept their excuses and we should not have to take extreme measures to get them to pay.

Yup. But they pay millions for lobbyists inside the Beltway and also make huge donations to PACs to keep things moving in their direction. When you go to sites like votesmart.org you always see the big insurance companies at the top of the donors lists.

 

[KissMy]

That's just a scratch. It will buff right out. Pay for it out of your deductible. Keep making those payments.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwSy-w8Apw"]I Can Fix It[/ame]