Lying Liars and the Lies they Lie (Maggie)

I had some pics to post with this one, but Blogger won't upload them for me today. Very odd, it just happens sometimes. I'll try again later, so if you read this with no pics, check back tonight to see if any have been added.

Anyway....here's my blog.

“Don’t worry,” the insurance adjusters told me, when, about 48 hours after the fire, while I was still in shock and grieving over my dogs, they decided it would be a great time to walk me through the rubble of my burned out home asking me what was there, brand, make, model, color, cost, etc. You know, easy stuff like that. And they kept saying, “You don’t have to worry. You’re really well covered. You have full replacement value on everything. Now how old was this sofa?”

Eventually, I thought to ask why they wanted to know how old everything was. And the adjuster said, and I quote, “It doesn’t really matter. You have full replacement value. I just need it for my records.”

Liars lie, you know. They lie a lot and they do it well. And then they wonder why the people they lie to get upset and blow a gasket when they learn the truth.

The truth, in this case, is that every single item I lost is covered. Minus the depreciation. Which is A LOT. I estimate I had about $70,000 worth of wonderful, glorious stuff in my house. Stuff that burned or was ruined by smoke and soot and the firemen’s hoses and boots. The insurance company estimates $37,000 or so, but they have to, are required by law to, are bound by the very rules of life and death to, withhold part of that money. The depreciation. (And I was being sarcastic. They don’t have to. They can, legally, so they will, but they don’t have to.)

On a practical level, what this means to me goes like this. They wrote down 800 bucks for the value of my sofa, but it was a few years old, so they’ll only give me $200. I’m supposed to come up with the other $600 on my own, go buy a sofa, and send them the receipt. Then they’ll pay the difference. Multiply that by everything I owned and you’ve got the general idea. There is a time limit, of course—180 days from the fire. Anything I haven’t bought by then, I’ll never be paid for. So in addition to buying things with money I don’t have, I’m supposed to buy them right away, before I even have a house in which to put them. Not to mention that to replace all I had, would take me months of doing nothing but shopping. And one does need to work.

I yelled and argued and got very angry, but it didn’t help. I phoned the NY State Insurance Commission, and was told this is perfectly legal, though very unfortunate.

So when you’re buying homeowner’s insurance, ask them exactly how replacement value works, because I was flat out lied to about it. Some companies might behave in a more ethical manner, though. I think not all of them do this.

Anyway . . . . it totally blew my positive attitude for the space of about 24 hours. I was going for 21 days straight without being negative or feeling bad about anything, and I made it to day 13 before this set me back. (I started over. I’m on day 2.) =)

Still, I managed to grab hold of myself, and steer my focus back to the positive. Lots of nice things happened this past week. The plumbers and electricians are done for the moment, and the next phase of work can begin soon. So that’s good. Insulation and sheetrock are next I think.

My son in law, Mike, actually came to my house and picked up my malfunctioning riding lawn mower. He took it to his place, fixed it, and brought it back! (And it’s at least a 35 minute drive each way.) And I didn’t even ask. That was really a wonderful, happy, positive thing. Plus Jena came with him so I got to visit with her, and little Sean came both times, and we played with the puppy together.

I had a great session with my critique group and best friends. I love the women in my life!

Oh, another nice thing—Dozer and Glory have decided to be friends. That’s a real plus. He’s growing like a bad weed, though. I can’t get over it.

The weather has been beautiful for a week straight. I’ve been running outside again, which I love. I’ve done a ton of lawn work, and it’s looking very nice around the house, despite the dumpster in the driveway and the plywood over the windows. Oh, and here were are on April 24th, only five days before the release date of LOVER’S BITE, and I haven’t seen it in stores yet. That’s VERY good news. The closer to the release date it actually begins selling, the better for me.

There are lots of very good things. I’m going on a quick, fun, overnight jaunt tonight, to a lodge up on Black Lake. Then next weekend, I head to Altoona, Florida for the biggest Pagan festival I’ve ever attended, where I’m one of the main speakers. How cool is that? So letting that one Very Bad Thing ruin a day that I’ll never get back was a waste of time and energy.

So I’m back. I even feel bad for being mean and rude to the insurance people. Not that they didn’t deserve it, but it’s just not me. I was supposed to meet with the insurance guy today, but I think I’m going to cancel it. I’m still gathering receipts and ammunition for my claim, and I’m intending to get that amount up to where it belongs and argue yet again, that depreciating my stuff is unfair, unethical, unnecessary, and dishonest. Though it is legal. I’d rather write and exercise and pack and go on my overnight trip without that meeting interfering with my day. Dozer’s going with us, so it’ll be twice the fun.

This is a really excellent example, though, of how one very bad thing can distract you from a dozen very good ones. It’s all where you focus. This mini-vacation should be exactly what I need to put the nastiness completely out of my mind.

I’ll report back, and I intend to have some photos of the lake for next week.

Maggie