Jul 31, 2009 6:51 pm US/Central
Homeowners Surprised To Find $54K In Hail Damage
LAKEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Shannon Olson couldn't get any help from the inspector because her contract stated the inspector doesn't look for hail damage. So, she found Paul Norcia, a licensed public adjustor and insurance consultant.
CBS
When Shannon Olson bought her Lakeville home last year, she never even noticed the hail damage on the windows. The home inspector didn't find them either. The dents were small and most of the damage was structural.
It wasn't until a painter came over to give her an estimate that she learned there was $54,000 worth of damage. The windows and the siding had to be replaced.
"It's disheartening," she said. "It's kind of ruined our summer."
At first, her insurance company denied the claim because the previous owners had filed a claim before them. They'd gotten $3,100, but never made the repairs. Those owners also never mentioned any damage on the disclosure forms. Olson said they told her they didn't believe there was any damage.
Liberty Mutual, the insurance company couldn't discuss the case, but Mark Kulda, a spokesman for the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, said insurance companies generally don't like to pay claims twice because it increases premiums for everyone else.
"That's actually in everyone's best interest," Kulda said.
Olson couldn't get any help from the inspector because her contract stated the inspector doesn't look for hail damage. So, she found Paul Norcia, a licensed public adjustor and insurance consultant. He's one of the few in the state of Minnesota.
Norcia negotiated the claim on the Olsons' behalf. He argued the damage could have occurred in one of the hail storms after the Olsons bought their home. No one really knows.
"It's an unfair situation is what they were caught in," he said.
He got Liberty Mutual to pay the claim, minus the $3,100 paid to the former owners. His cut will be around 10 percent -- an amount worth it to the Olsons who say they'd get nothing without him.
"To me, it's more a knowledge of the policy and that comes from years of experience that I have in the insurance industry," Norcia said.
Olson wants to warn other homeowners this could happen to them. She says she's learned not to blindly trust the inspection report or the disclosure forms. She wished she knew about a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) report, available online, that would tell her the insurance history of the house. CLUE reports are only available to the homeowners, but Olson would have asked for a copy.
Kulda says potential homebuyers can learn from this situation. He believes the damage was something the inspector should have caught.
"This is a case clearly where the sellers should have disclosed the damage, the buyers probably should have done a pretty good job checking on the inspector and the buyers themselves could have done their own inspection," he said.
Olson says, back then, she never would have seen the damage because it's hard to pick out unless you know what you're looking for. Now, she knows it all too well.
"This whole experience has really taken away from the enjoyment of our home," she said. "Just knowing that, feeling like you kind of got had."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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