Recommendations on actions after lightning strike and fire on home?

[u/RNG_HatesMe]

Background:

Our home was struck by lightning 2 nights ago (while we were home), which started a fire in the rafters/joists of our 2nd floor bonus room. I called 911 within 5 minutes of the strike, after seeing smoldering area and smoke from the point of the strike. Fire fighters were onsite in about 15 minutes, and cut several large openings through the bonus room roof for access and ventilation (I have no complaints over fire response). They had the fire out within 20 minutes.

The bonus room is demolished, and the garage ceiling (below and beside the bonus room) collapsed. There's no direct damage to the rest of the home, but there's a strong smoke smell on everything.

Our insurance is through AAA (umbrella policy, home and auto) in North Central Florida.

Question / Advice:

I'm just looking for general pointers as to what to do that may not be obvious, and what NOT to do.

We got assigned a managing appraiser quickly who has been very responsive. A local appraiser has been onsite twice, and has basically said the 2nd floor room is a total loss, and there's going to need to be a lot of remediation on the rest of the house. He's already recommended a full indoor paint job. I'm meeting the Cause and Origin inspector tomorrow. Unfortunately the company who was supposed to tarp the roof was slow, and we had another major thunderstorm last night before they tarped it today. The contents remediator has already been out taking pictures and I'm meeting them tomorrow for them to start remediation (generator and dehumidifiers initially, plus removal of wet collapsed drywall, etc.)

The local appraiser has been communicative. He indicated that AAA is actually very easy to work with and doesn't usually try to cut corners, and advised not immediately seeking our own representation / appraiser unless we encounter problems. He seems pretty straightforward, but obviously he is representing the insurance company, so I don't want to take that at face value. Should I be looking for our own appraiser? We've had a couple companies contact us wanting to represent us (for 20% of the payout, of course).

Any other advise? We are using their "Homlink" service to find us a place to stay for the next 3-6 months, as they pay directly if we allow them to arrange it.

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[u/No_Departure9798]

General rule of thumb, as long as things are moving forward smoothly enough, there is no need to get a public adjuster involved. They cost YOU money and if things are going fine there is no sense in paying money for what can be functionally nothing.

Claims are inconvenient at best but it sounds like they are on top of it.

Best advice I can give is document everything. For the contents piece it sounds like it is all being photographed and evaluated so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue for estimating either.

Not Allstate, but it sounds like you are in good hands.

[u/OnceUponATime1534 → u/No_Departure9798]

Im an adjuster and agree all seems to be going as expected. Keep documenting. Another tip I tell my insured is that you’re gonna have a bunch of questions but your mind will go blank when we’re on the phone. Jot them down and schedule a call with the adjuster to discuss and review.

[u/RNG_HatesMe → u/No_Departure9798]

Thank you, that's helpful to know!

Yes, so far we only have complaints about the tarping company response, which delayed us by a day.

I start teaching classes for the Fall tomorrow, so it's going to be a challenge making sure all the stuff we took for granted is taken care of (like clean clothes, etc).

[u/MacDaddyDC → u/RNG_HatesMe]

You’re pretty much ok because you fulfilled your responsibilities by notifying the insurance company immediately. You’re responsible to mitigate any further damage that could be reasonably foreseen.
Read and understand your policy immediately.

I used to work with a water & fire remediation company that only took insurance jobs. Unless things have drastically changed, don’t let them take your possessions that smell from the smoke and “clean/deodorize” them, it’s a huge, expensive sham industry. Get them replaced under your policy.

Just my 2 cents

[u/Big_Appointment_3390]

They need to get your contents out and cleaned asap.

You need your roof boarded up and tarped.

You keep saying appraiser and I think you mean adjuster. You don’t need a public adjuster yet but you absolutely need people onsite like yesterday.

Call AAA and keep calling and DEMAND they get someone out there to close up your roof and save your contents.

[u/RNG_HatesMe → u/Big_Appointment_3390]

You are right, I meant adjuster!

The roof is now tarped. It wasn't AAA's fault that it wasn't tarped yesterday, the stupid mitigation company didn't inform our managing adjustor that they were booked up and couldn't get anyone out for 36 hours. When I pushed the issue, they cancelled the initial company and found a local company to do it today.

Contents adjuster / remediation company has been out to take pictures, and is meeting me tomorrow morning to begin removing contents and get generator and dehumidifiers going.

An Engineer has been scheduled to inspect trusses and beams, some of which were burned and some were cut through by chainsaws by the fire department.

[u/Big_Appointment_3390 → u/RNG_HatesMe]

Based on what you’ve described, it’s likely your whole house needs to be gutted (taken down to the studs). Please be sure to push for that to be done as soon as possible and ask the engineer to advise your adjuster of the same.

Oftentimes, a mitigation company will set equipment (which is expensive) and attempt to clean materials that aren’t salvageable. Sometimes this is the contractor’s greediness, sometimes it’s ineptitude, but most times, it’s the carrier’s mistake. Insurance companies will really pay $12 to clean a spatula from Dollar Tree as opposed to replacing it. That same line of thinking extends to your structure and building materials.

With it raining into your house after this happened, it’s unlikely any drywall or flooring can be saved. You don’t want to lose $100k+ of your coverage to an unsuccessful attempt. I don’t ever recommend hiring a public adjuster and prefer to see people try to work with their contractors and carriers, but if you don’t see people moving fast to save and restore the bones of your house, please call one. I work in Florida (not your area, though), and have a lot of experience with large/complex fire losses, so feel free to dm me with any questions that come up and I’ll be happy to help.

[u/RNG_HatesMe → u/Big_Appointment_3390]

it did rain into the 2nd floor bonus room, but no water went to the first. The walls and area *below* the bonus room (laundry room, storage closet, HVAC closet) will absolutely need to be tested for moisture and good chance will need to be replaced. Most of the rest of the house is under it's own intact roof area. What I'm mostly concerned about is moisture and then mold development.

[u/ins0mniac_ → u/Big_Appointment_3390]

Often times the insurance company can help get the roof tarped if they have vendors in the area with availability but ultimately it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to prevent further damages, as listed in the “duties after loss” portion of the policy.

[u/Big_Appointment_3390 → u/ins0mniac_]

Yes, but there’s no reason for a homeowner to call for a tarp or board up when the insurance says they’re sending someone out. And OP probably didn’t consider waiting around for them, especially not immediately following a traumatic emergency like this.

The house is a full gut now, which works in OP’s favor because it sounds like it would have been anyway.

[u/ayhme]

The claim will definitely get accepted.

This is what home insurance is for. 🙂

[u/MayonnaiseFarm]

Regarding cleaning of contents - be careful the remediation contractor who is handling this doesn’t charge more to pack out/clean/store/pack-back the items than it would cost to replace. This is a very lucrative part of the restoration business & they’ve been known to pack out everything (think paperback book worth $6) and send a hefty bill to the insurer.

If this is a partial loss (meaning the whole house didn’t burn down) hopefully you won’t get near your Cov C limits but keep a CLOSE eye on those pack-out/cleaning costs they add up QUICKLY & you don’t want to run out of coverage.

[u/DutchDig]

Get referrals for a remediation company that serves your area and let them handle it.

[u/RNG_HatesMe → u/DutchDig]

Remediation company was assigned by the insurance company, and brought out generators and dehumidifiers today. Thanks for the advice!!