OT Please Spare a Purr For My Dad and Stepmother

Hi all,

This is not a life-threatening situation, as in neither one of them have a
terrible illness. They have however been rather hit over the head by life.
Upon their return from Mexico, Dad and Glenna came home at two a.m to find
their water heater had quit and flooded a large area of their house while
they were gone. Bad enough that it had to break, but really awful that it
did it when they were away, at least a week before they came back.
Fortunately, they have homeowner's insurance, but while the insurance will
cover water damage, but not mold damage. Had they been home when it
happened, the damage could have been contained, but now the line between
what is water damage and what is mold damage appears to be rather arbitrary
in the eyes of their insurance agent. Dad says she's the kind of person you
really don't want to deal with anyway, and certainly not when your house is
temporarily unlivable. Right now, they're living at my mom's house, as she
has an extra room, heat, hot water, and a kitchen they can use. They'll be
moving into a rental unit for the next three months. A lot of the flooring
in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway is going to have to be
replaced, hence their need to move out. It's really a shame, as this is a
beautiful little Spanish style house of 1920's vintage with lovely hardwood
floors. In the last two years they did a lot of work on it, adding a study
for my dad at one end of the living room. (Yes, I do quietly covet their
house, or at least I did before this latest disaster.)

They need purrs that the damage is mostly water damage, which the insurance
WILL pay for. In the worst case, if the insurance company says it's all
mold damage, they WON'T pay for repairs, and they might be forced to sell
the house which would break their hearts. They have a huge lot where my
stepmother has a nice garden she's been working on for thirty years. It's
their single greatest financial assett bought in the early 70's when
ordinary people could still buy a nice house, and the chance they could get
anything remotely comparable at today's prices is nil. Especially since
they're both well past retirement age.

So calling all cats, please start your purring engines.....

Melissa

in article ,
Melissa Houle at wrote on 2/19/05 7:27 PM:

Hi all,

This is not a life-threatening situation, as in neither one of them have a
terrible illness. They have however been rather hit over the head by life.
Upon their return from Mexico, Dad and Glenna came home at two a.m to find
their water heater had quit and flooded a large area of their house while
they were gone. Bad enough that it had to break, but really awful that it
did it when they were away, at least a week before they came back.
Fortunately, they have homeowner's insurance, but while the insurance will
cover water damage, but not mold damage. Had they been home when it
happened, the damage could have been contained, but now the line between
what is water damage and what is mold damage appears to be rather arbitrary
in the eyes of their insurance agent. Dad says she's the kind of person you
really don't want to deal with anyway, and certainly not when your house is
temporarily unlivable. Right now, they're living at my mom's house, as she
has an extra room, heat, hot water, and a kitchen they can use. They'll be
moving into a rental unit for the next three months. A lot of the flooring
in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway is going to have to be
replaced, hence their need to move out. It's really a shame, as this is a
beautiful little Spanish style house of 1920's vintage with lovely hardwood
floors. In the last two years they did a lot of work on it, adding a study
for my dad at one end of the living room. (Yes, I do quietly covet their
house, or at least I did before this latest disaster.)

They need purrs that the damage is mostly water damage, which the insurance
WILL pay for. In the worst case, if the insurance company says it's all
mold damage, they WON'T pay for repairs, and they might be forced to sell
the house which would break their hearts. They have a huge lot where my
stepmother has a nice garden she's been working on for thirty years. It's
their single greatest financial assett bought in the early 70's when
ordinary people could still buy a nice house, and the chance they could get
anything remotely comparable at today's prices is nil. Especially since
they're both well past retirement age.

So calling all cats, please start your purring engines.....

Melissa



That really sucks. Purrs that the insurance company sees the light and that
any mold damage began as water damage. Insurance is such a wierd thing
anyway. You pay and pay but it seems like you never get the benefit.

"Melissa Houle" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

This is not a life-threatening situation, as in neither one of them have a
terrible illness. They have however been rather hit over the head by
life.
Upon their return from Mexico, Dad and Glenna came home at two a.m to
find
their water heater had quit and flooded a large area of their house while
they were gone. Bad enough that it had to break, but really awful that it
did it when they were away, at least a week before they came back.
Fortunately, they have homeowner's insurance, but while the insurance will
cover water damage, but not mold damage. Had they been home when it
happened, the damage could have been contained, but now the line between
what is water damage and what is mold damage appears to be rather
arbitrary
in the eyes of their insurance agent. Dad says she's the kind of person
you
really don't want to deal with anyway, and certainly not when your house
is
temporarily unlivable. Right now, they're living at my mom's house, as she
has an extra room, heat, hot water, and a kitchen they can use. They'll
be
moving into a rental unit for the next three months. A lot of the flooring
in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway is going to have to
be
replaced, hence their need to move out. It's really a shame, as this is a
beautiful little Spanish style house of 1920's vintage with lovely
hardwood
floors. In the last two years they did a lot of work on it, adding a study
for my dad at one end of the living room. (Yes, I do quietly covet their
house, or at least I did before this latest disaster.)

They need purrs that the damage is mostly water damage, which the
insurance
WILL pay for. In the worst case, if the insurance company says it's all
mold damage, they WON'T pay for repairs, and they might be forced to sell
the house which would break their hearts. They have a huge lot where my
stepmother has a nice garden she's been working on for thirty years. It's
their single greatest financial assett bought in the early 70's when
ordinary people could still buy a nice house, and the chance they could
get
anything remotely comparable at today's prices is nil. Especially since
they're both well past retirement age.

So calling all cats, please start your purring engines.....

Melissa

House healing purrs on the way! I hope everything works out for them.

As an aside - how nice of your mom to put them up, wow, you were actually
raised by grown-ups!!!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Purring and purr-aying are in progress.

If they're unsatisfied with what the insurance agent has to say, can they
get a second opinion? Or file an appeal somehow?

But here's hoping that won't be necessary.

Lots of purrs on the way.


--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

In article
outpets.com,
"Gabey8" gabey8-@-aol-dot-com (formerly dgabriel-at-netaxs-dot-com)
wrote:

Purring and purr-aying are in progress.

If they're unsatisfied with what the insurance agent has to say, can they
get a second opinion? Or file an appeal somehow?

But here's hoping that won't be necessary.


Purrs. These things vary by state, but check the yellow pages, etc., for
"independent adjusters", who are much like mediators for such things and
can give independent opinions. It's also worth calling the state
commissioner of insurance, or whoever regulates insurance, and check on
mediation and appeal mechanisms. This is also the sort of thing where
TV consumer reporters might find interest.

Purring and praying that everything comes out well in the end.
Jazz & his mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we come
to the stars we return
from now until the end of time
"Melissa Houle" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

This is not a life-threatening situation, as in neither one of them have a
terrible illness. They have however been rather hit over the head by
life.
Upon their return from Mexico, Dad and Glenna came home at two a.m to
find
their water heater had quit and flooded a large area of their house while
they were gone. Bad enough that it had to break, but really awful that it
did it when they were away, at least a week before they came back.
Fortunately, they have homeowner's insurance, but while the insurance will
cover water damage, but not mold damage. Had they been home when it
happened, the damage could have been contained, but now the line between
what is water damage and what is mold damage appears to be rather
arbitrary
in the eyes of their insurance agent. Dad says she's the kind of person
you
really don't want to deal with anyway, and certainly not when your house
is
temporarily unlivable. Right now, they're living at my mom's house, as she
has an extra room, heat, hot water, and a kitchen they can use. They'll
be
moving into a rental unit for the next three months. A lot of the flooring
in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway is going to have to
be
replaced, hence their need to move out. It's really a shame, as this is a
beautiful little Spanish style house of 1920's vintage with lovely
hardwood
floors. In the last two years they did a lot of work on it, adding a study
for my dad at one end of the living room. (Yes, I do quietly covet their
house, or at least I did before this latest disaster.)

They need purrs that the damage is mostly water damage, which the
insurance
WILL pay for. In the worst case, if the insurance company says it's all
mold damage, they WON'T pay for repairs, and they might be forced to sell
the house which would break their hearts. They have a huge lot where my
stepmother has a nice garden she's been working on for thirty years. It's
their single greatest financial assett bought in the early 70's when
ordinary people could still buy a nice house, and the chance they could
get
anything remotely comparable at today's prices is nil. Especially since
they're both well past retirement age.

So calling all cats, please start your purring engines.....

Melissa

CatNipped wrote in message
...
"Melissa Houle" wrote in message
...
SNIP
House healing purrs on the way! I hope everything works out for them.

As an aside - how nice of your mom to put them up, wow, you were actually
raised by grown-ups!!!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Heh, yes, most of the time, they are. =o) I can't imagine why my mom and
dad got married as they just weren't well suited. But they stuck to the
marriage for fifteen years before they decided it was time to cut their
losses and go their separate ways. My step-mother is a much better match
for my dad. But they went about breaking up their marriage in as mature a
way as one could hope for, and neither of them bad-mouthed the other to the
four of us, and Mom gave Dad plenty of access to us, even though she got
custody. She and Glenna get on well, and Dad and Glenna come to family
occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's been nearly forty years now,
so they've worked out whatever bitterness may have lingered long ago. Also,
my mom has a pretty big house, but spends a lot of time in Santa Cruz with
her gentleman friend Mark. So she figured Dad and Glenna might as well use
her house since they were in a rather desperate situation.

Melissa

Melissa Houle wrote:

So calling all cats, please start your purring engines.....


Certainly, Melissa. Frank&Nikki purrs on the way for your Dad and
stepmother. What a terrible thing to happen.

--
Marina, Frank and Nikki
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Purrs on the way. hope the assessor is in a good mood.

--
Sandra