$7,487.73 and Waivers from Allstate

Allstate owes me more than $100,000 for flood and wind damage to our house from Hurricane Katrina. They've owed me this for about 15 months now. In late September 2006 they informed me that they had a check for us for $7,487.73, but to get it I needed to sign two waivers. The first was a"Non-Waiver Agreement," and the second was "Proof of Loss Supplement." The fine print on the second one caught my attention, as if we signed it we would waive our rights to claim that Allstate has acted in bad faith, which they clearly have. So now we're in a dilemma. Allstate tells me on the phone that if I won't sign the forms, then it is the same as me refusing the $7,487.73 supplement and the case will be closed. I tell them, no, Allstate owes me the money, and there is nothing in our flood policy that states that I need to sign waivers prior to receipt of payments. The homeowner's portion of the claim we're handling in court. Our attorney said to absolutely not sign those forms, as Allstate would use them in the Homeowner's portion of the claim against us. Of course we still need an attorney to handle the flood portion of our claim, but I'm starting to think that we'd be better off with the Road Home than with an attorney. If we have an attorney for flood, and we get an extra $60,000, then the attorney's fees would be $20,000. So we would receive $40,000, but according to the Road Home it would be $60,000, and they would drop their grant by that much. While I would love to see Allstate lose in court, I can't afford to pay $20,000 to see that fine day. So for now, I can't sign the waivers, Allstate is acting as awful as ever, and we wait some more.