If Allstate attributed the damage to wind or rain, for example -- putting it on the hook for payment under the customer's homeowner policy -- the company priced the cost of removing and replacing the drywall at 76 cents per square foot. But if the damage was blamed on storm surge or flooding, the estimated cost of removing and replacing the drywall more than quadrupled, to $3.31 per square foot...A key difference between flood Sheetrock and wind Sheetrock is this: Allstate must pay for damage covered by its homeowner policy. But damage blamed on flooding is covered by the National Flood Insurance program, set up by the federal government and subsidized by taxpayers. And who decides which policy covers which damages? As with 96 percent of flood policies these days, it is the private insurer, in this case Allstate.
So I went and checked my files, and sure enough, they charged considerably more for damage due to flood. To remove our plaster walls and lath, Allstate charged $8.34 per square yard with flood, and $3.05 for wind. That is quite a difference. Thanks America for making 2005 and 2006 the most profitable years ever for Allstate.
You'd think with all the overcharging for these services, they'd find another loophole someplace that would kick back some of those charges to Somestates. It would probably keep them in the insurance racket...uh...business in places like the Gulf Coast, California, and east Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a "charge for the estimate" charge?
I almost fainted when I saw the 76 cents/sq ft figure for drywall removal and replacement. Where would anyone possibly find a contractor willing to do the work for that price? It's utterly criminal, but we are talking about AllState, after all.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, State Farm underpaid also. My attorney had the repair work re-scoped by a contractor using the same software that the adjustors used, but with accurate pricing and State Farm agreed to pay most of the difference. But there's so much more to the story with my case and I'll have to post it one of these days.
It's one hell of a risk game when the insurers get to stack the deck in their favor to the degree they're allowed. One of the State Insurance Commissioner's duties is to "to ensure a fair and safe market for Louisiana's insurance consumers."
What a joke.