The inventory of the house is complete. Demolition and clean out of the house is going well. They have nearly the entire main level cleared out. They are projecting to be done with that phase by the end of next week, of course they said that last week about this week. Sigh....My main goal is to just see the rebuild start and take shape so our hope and energy and excitement can be focused on going back home. Brand new home that is clean and bright and fun to live in again.
I have received my settlement letter from the insurance company regarding all my contents last night. I finally had time today to sit down and review the 112 (yes one hundred twelve) page document. I had to print it out, I cant read a document like that on a computer. I read and retain better if it is physically in my hand. Plus I can make notes as I read. Does anyone else feel this way, I am sure the millennials wouldn't agree!
I was rather surprised at some things I discovered while reviewing the insurance document that included the itemization of all my belongings. You may or may not know that after the insurance had the inventory company list all the items out in a spread sheet, I then had to go through and assign dollar value and age of each line item. There 1,253 line items that I had to address, Some of these line items held multiples of one item (i.e. shirts, underwear, socks, bowls, pencils, etc.). After I submitted my list back to them then they did their number magic voodoo to the spreadsheet and voila a final settlement amount is determined.
I am not going to deal with actual numbers but in percentages. My items depreciated to 40% of the amount I valued them to be. They reduced value of my items by 60%....what in the world!!!! I am grateful I had insurance. I am blessed that I have what I have. My insurance company has been phenomenal to work throughout the entire process, but WOWSA! Do I just buy crap and don't realize it?
So consider this:
1) For every pair of underwear you own they will only give you 25% of what you paid for it, Now mind you these were streak free drawers people. Nice and clean!
2) For all those bottles of lotions and products that stack up in our bathrooms to address our vanity (er I mean vitality), ya they will only give ya 20% of their value. So is your vanity worth an 80% loss, If you didn't worry about your looks you could save a lot of money but lets keep the toothpaste and deodorants.
3) For those parents out there you will love this one. All those toys that you have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on over the years guess what they give ya for them? Say it out loud tell me what you think? (waiting for an anwer) NOPE you are wrong they will only give you 20% of a toy's value and that includes all those stupid stuffed animals that seem to multiply. If you know my daughter you know the problems I have with stuffed animals. The moral of this story is that next Christmas when you go to buy MORE toys THEY DO NOT NEED to put under the tree that the minute you walk out of the store those toys are now worth 20% of that hole in your wallet. It can still be in the box and in the shrink wrap and tied in to the box by all those stupid plastic twist ties and if it burns up you will only get 20% of the money you just spent back. Don't even take into account the number of hours those toys are ACTUALLY played with after New Years Day.
One of the blessings/tragedies of The Burning is that over 100 stuffed animals succombed to smoke inhalation, we were able to rescue a few, most of them were buried with civilized honors at the city dump! This is a warning for all people everywhere - NO ONE GIVE MY CHILDREN A STUFFY OR ELSE!
4) I will say this, the kids eletronics and video games and etc. fared a little better with more return on our investment at only 50% depreciation. Since we know where the kids spend the majority of their time it is nice to know it is money well spent. On a side note electronics have not been officially replaced yet and it is really ok with me. So we will see what happens....they have not missed them that much!
5) For your mattresses and box springs and bed pillows it is minimal depreciation of just 20%. Which I found amazing. Just remember a good nights sleep is better not only for your health but for your wallet. So go ahead and spend a little more on that new mattress. I will say when I went shopping for a new mattress a few weeks ago I was flabbergasted at the actual costs and all the options and varieties there are to choose from.
On a related note you only get 25% back on all your sheets, blankets, pillow cases, bathroom towels and etc. This includes those cute little fluffy and furry blankets you buy at Home Goods or Target. Only 25% off, so when you have a fire, grab the furry blanket on the way out!
Oh and for those of you who are lovers of all those cute decorator pillows for the bed and the couches and the chairs and out on the patio...STOP IT! Not worth your money, after the fire you will only get 20% back. Why do you think Pier One has so many walls and shelves of pillows, because they are so cheap to make and yet they sell them for outrageous prices that you will never get back. Come on, we can't even sell them at next summer's garage sale for everyone is afraid of bedbugs! NO I DON"T HAVE BEDBUGS!
6) Next comes my favorite topic the WARDROBE - if you know me at all you know historically I have been a clothes horse and I rarely ever got rid of clothes. Well that has changed in recent years as I was able to prune my entire fashion ensemble into one closet. It was so freeing. And since I lost every piece of clothing from that one closet in the fire I get to start over again! Woo Hoo.... but there is always a BUT! I only got 25% back on my wardrobe...it was very dissatisfying. They have no idea how many hours, days, weeks and months I spent curating my wardrobe to the colossal fabulousness it had become. To top it off you only get 20% back on all your shoes! It is a tragedy to say the least. I will say the percentage was a little more for higher brand name pieces from like Nike, Tommy, Bass, Disney and the like if the tags were easily identified when inventoried. That should make you feel a little better the next time you hit the outlet mall.
I share all these thoughts with you to say this. If you don't have insurance on the contents of the home you own or rent - please get it right away. I can't imagine not having anything to fall back on after the fire. We have been so blessed as a result of it.
When you do get insurance, determine an amount of coverage you think would work for you. Maybe it is 50k or a 100k or whatever number you came up with and then DOUBLE IT! That was my mistake I didn't double it. I would have gotten a bigger settlement had I had more coverage. Do not undervalue your possessions. What they failed to tell me was that the salvage costs, cleaning costs and other ancillary costs come out of your contents total and that total came up to about $7,000. At least mine did. Read your policies carefully and know what is going on. They don't exactly explain all that in the beginning of the process or if they did, I was still too much shock to hear them.
On a final note, if you house ever catches on fire (and I pray it does not) let it burn to the ground. Do not call the fire department until you know that baby is just going to be all ashes. I truly believe our recovery process would have gone much quicker and faster and there is likely no actual inventory you have to sort through painfully for 112 pages multiple times. Remember it is just stuff. You don't need it. Can't take it with you. So for those of my readers whom I know will read this I will say to Brenda, Sandy, Tausha and Sonia... LET IT GO! Purge now and free yourselves!
Until next time peeps!
