[Our03z4]

Last week my parents home caught on fire. Everyone was safe at work and there was surprisingly little (to me) personal property damage but damage to the structure is pretty extensive. Now it is time for the big stuff. First insurance repair estimate came in 2 days ago they are saying this is open to discussion based on contractor estimates and is only the first estimate as extensive demo has to be done to be sure there are no unseen issues. Sounds reasonable you can't quote out what you can't see damaged if it has reached a further point than expected. Any additional issues found after demo will be spec'd and bid.


So what can I do to be sure that my parents are getting what they really should be for repairs? Weather has be less than ideal so I have not gotten to take the many many page estimate over to their house and do a walk through line by line to see if they missed things like built ins in a certain room and crown molding in another. I do know that there is already one room that does not have crown molding listed when it does have crown molding. Insurance said we use estimating soft ware updated monthly so costs are reasonably good. But when I see the bottom line "profit" insurance lists as expected for the contractor it is so low I wonder who the heck would do it?!?!


My parents are not tech savvy so I am trying to do what I can to help but I have never dealt with anything insurance (knocks on wood) and nothing else in life so large scale as what this project and its price tag is going to be. My own (separate company) insurance agent has told me to reach out if I have any questions about the process which I will do as well. Biggest question right now is Recoverable Depreciation. Basically every room in the house has some sort of custom built in cabinetry that has been installed over the years to meet our specific family taste and needs. From what I am understanding if they choose not to redo like custom built ins they loose all the Recoverable Depreciation on those items? Many of these built ins would likely be seen as in the way for someone in the future and now that us kids are grown and gone much of the house is unused so putting these items back in is not needed and those funds could be used to do other things in the home that would better suit long term resale. We are getting multiple bids for the work but it is really going to come down to timing on getting repairs started as there has already be some issues with getting insurance to agree to have a temporary roof structure put on. This was denied as the "water damage" has already been done by extinguishing the fire and "some" (8+ inches) of snow isn't going to further hurt anything when it melts as almost the entire house will be gutted.


First check is being cut and mailed to be put into escrow for the repairs to begin once we sign with a contractor. By putting the check into escrow are we in any way accepting the terms the insurance company is offering? It very clearly states that any changes to scope of damages and pricing must be pre-approved by insurance which is understood. I just don't want them depositing a check if it means they are agreeing to the insurance companies pricing before we even have one estimate back from a contractor. I am aware of what public adjusters do and if needed will encourage my parents to hire one but will likely not pursue this avenue if we are able to contract with a very local contractor that we personally know people they have worked with in the past and have been very impressed with their work and honesty in dealing with both insurance company and the homeowner.


Long post. It is a lot of info and questions and I appreciate any insight those who have had to deal with this sort of thing in the past can give.