My first Home Insurance Claim (due to Tornado damage) - Options?

[Nir]

Hi All,

I wanted to share info and ask about an option I heard exists when involving home insurance companies:
Will the insurance company agree to pay me instead of their contractor, allow me to hire someone else to do the job.. and even keep the difference!?
Is it true that since there is a mortgage on the house, the check will be paid to the mortgage company and fund will only be released to me once job is completed to the satisfaction of the mortgage company?

My main dilemma is whether to find a contractor myself and save the difference (is that common/recommended?) or just let the insurance company hire whoever they want (I`m sure a reliable contractor but also more expensive than I can find) and just let them deal with the payments/money?

THANKS.

 

[aiden1983]

QUOTE (investmart @ Sep 24 2009, 10:23 AM) Hi All,

I wanted to share info and ask about an option I heard exists when involving home insurance companies:
Will the insurance company agree to pay me instead of their contractor, allow me to hire someone else to do the job.. and even keep the difference!?
Is it true that since there is a mortgage on the house, the check will be paid to the mortgage company and fund will only be released to me once job is completed to the satisfaction of the mortgage company?

My main dilemma is whether to find a contractor myself and save the difference (is that common/recommended?) or just let the insurance company hire whoever they want (I`m sure a reliable contractor but also more expensive than I can find) and just let them deal with the payments/money?

THANKS.

I have had a few friends (two people actually) that have actually done the insurance work on their own properties but the problem they have run into is that the insurance company will not want to pay you the going rate. They offered them both about 30% less than a contractor would charge but eventually got them to about 90%. If you can do the work yourself then it could be a good idea, if not then it might just be easier to do it through the insurance company. That being said on one property that my parents owned, my father actually kicked the contractor that the insurance company picked out of the house as they were doing a terrible job. The insurance company then paid my dad to fix the house. Hope this helps in some small way.

 

[Nir]

Thanks for sharing. interesting and helpful.