When the hurricane came last week, a perfectly healthy tree in my back yard came down, broke through the fence and landed with the top of tree in my neighbors back yard. We were lucky, no structures were involved, just the fence, the tree, and our back lawns. He was vacationing when this happened, another neighbor came to check on his house, called him on his vacay, and then came to us with the vacay phone number, asking us to call the neighbor. We explained our cell phones, and landline (which was vonage and through my computer) were not working, as cable and internet were out all over the block. DH said he would call neighbor from work the next day, if the phones didn't come back before then.
Monday came, DH called, neighbor was so glad there wasn't any 'real damage' thrilled that the power had not gone out so the food in his freezer wouldn't spoil, and both DH and neighbor were calling the insurance companies. Turns out we both have the same insurance co. DH called our insurance agent, Hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm when it hit the state, so instead of mandatory $18,000 deductible, our regular $250 would apply, and we were covered for what was in our backyard, and our neighbor's policy would cover what was in his yard.
Everything was amicable between the households, however neighbor said his insurance co, said we were responsible and our insurance would have to pay his claim. They are both the same company (I repeat to stress this). After another call to our respective agents, neighbor was told what we were told originally...each policy was responsible for our respect damages. Neighbor was apologetic, we said no problem. We started getting estimates for the tree removal (from our side), and sent our tree guys over to see the neighbors damage and leave estimates in his mailbox for his cleanup. (DH had told neighbor he would do this as a favor, since he was not here to get estimates, and getting tree guys was not easy, they are all so busy)
Saturday morning, neighbor comes over and says he spent 2 hours on the phone with insurance co, we are responsible. DH gets on the phone, gets through to the actual Disaster Claim rep in charge of all these claims for the company, and assures us what landed in our property is covered under our policy and what landed in his, is his. He sent an email to this effect for DH. DH called neighbor, said he just got the info from the guy who approves the claims, and is forwarding the email to neighbor. Neighbor is still sounding fine, no animosity. After DH sent the email, neighbor called the Insurance guy from the info on the forwarded email, and is told the same thing. Now comes the problem. This morning we got a rude email from neighbor, complaining that since his deductible is 1000 it doesn't pay for him to put in a claim. Turns our he wants us to file a false insurance claim, so he can get paid too from our policy. He says it is the neighborly thing to do and he would do it for us. This neighbor has NOTHING to do with us on a social or neighborly basis. Hosts loud pool parties till 2:30 am with the whole culdesac invited except for us. Our relationship with him is to wave outside.
DH wrote back, that we are not to blame that his deductible is high, he has enjoyed smaller premiums because of the high deductible, while we have been paying higher premiums for the lower deductible. We are not going to circumvent insurance laws. We are already taking down a tree in our backyard (at our own expense) because he was afraid it was too close to where he plans to build an "expensive pool house". He got quotes for $350 to clear away and remove his debris, and then said he might just do it himself.
He had someone come and cut up his part of the tree, and then proceeded to bring out all the debris, and put it in front of our house at the curb. The town will not pick up debris from the hurricane unless it is bagged, or tied up in neat bundles with string. So because he has a high deductible, and we won't commit insurance fraud, he dumps all the crap in front of our house for us to deal with? I'm sorry this is so long,but I am just very upset by his attempt at bullying us, and now that it will cost me more, that isn't covered by insurance to remove what naturally fell in his yard. I really needed to vent. Sorry this was so long.
Monday came, DH called, neighbor was so glad there wasn't any 'real damage' thrilled that the power had not gone out so the food in his freezer wouldn't spoil, and both DH and neighbor were calling the insurance companies. Turns out we both have the same insurance co. DH called our insurance agent, Hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm when it hit the state, so instead of mandatory $18,000 deductible, our regular $250 would apply, and we were covered for what was in our backyard, and our neighbor's policy would cover what was in his yard.
Everything was amicable between the households, however neighbor said his insurance co, said we were responsible and our insurance would have to pay his claim. They are both the same company (I repeat to stress this). After another call to our respective agents, neighbor was told what we were told originally...each policy was responsible for our respect damages. Neighbor was apologetic, we said no problem. We started getting estimates for the tree removal (from our side), and sent our tree guys over to see the neighbors damage and leave estimates in his mailbox for his cleanup. (DH had told neighbor he would do this as a favor, since he was not here to get estimates, and getting tree guys was not easy, they are all so busy)
Saturday morning, neighbor comes over and says he spent 2 hours on the phone with insurance co, we are responsible. DH gets on the phone, gets through to the actual Disaster Claim rep in charge of all these claims for the company, and assures us what landed in our property is covered under our policy and what landed in his, is his. He sent an email to this effect for DH. DH called neighbor, said he just got the info from the guy who approves the claims, and is forwarding the email to neighbor. Neighbor is still sounding fine, no animosity. After DH sent the email, neighbor called the Insurance guy from the info on the forwarded email, and is told the same thing. Now comes the problem. This morning we got a rude email from neighbor, complaining that since his deductible is 1000 it doesn't pay for him to put in a claim. Turns our he wants us to file a false insurance claim, so he can get paid too from our policy. He says it is the neighborly thing to do and he would do it for us. This neighbor has NOTHING to do with us on a social or neighborly basis. Hosts loud pool parties till 2:30 am with the whole culdesac invited except for us. Our relationship with him is to wave outside.
DH wrote back, that we are not to blame that his deductible is high, he has enjoyed smaller premiums because of the high deductible, while we have been paying higher premiums for the lower deductible. We are not going to circumvent insurance laws. We are already taking down a tree in our backyard (at our own expense) because he was afraid it was too close to where he plans to build an "expensive pool house". He got quotes for $350 to clear away and remove his debris, and then said he might just do it himself.
He had someone come and cut up his part of the tree, and then proceeded to bring out all the debris, and put it in front of our house at the curb. The town will not pick up debris from the hurricane unless it is bagged, or tied up in neat bundles with string. So because he has a high deductible, and we won't commit insurance fraud, he dumps all the crap in front of our house for us to deal with? I'm sorry this is so long,but I am just very upset by his attempt at bullying us, and now that it will cost me more, that isn't covered by insurance to remove what naturally fell in his yard. I really needed to vent. Sorry this was so long.
