Insurance

[504]

I have a friend I v known since high school,he retired from his factory job and was enjoying working on his hot rods and making bales. Last June one of his balers caught fire setting in the field while he ate lunch. About 4 weeks ago he lost his big storage building full of tractors,three balers his son s Mustang,just 40 years worth of parts and projects,some finished, some to do. 120 foot long building was insured the contents were not. He said Sunday that God was telling him something but he wasn't sure what. I said that after losing 4 balers in 10 months God was telling him to quit baling hay. He is selling out,land and what equipment that is left,everything. They live in town and his shop is there for new car and truck rodding products.The fire was so hot that his son reached into the aluminum block and pulled the cam shaft out through the top of the block.

 

[504]

I should have added the fire inspector found a bad wire into an outlet,he said it had to have been bad when he bought the place.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

Maybe telling him to put up a 100% metal building next time.

 

[ADB-Ia]

I'm no expert but it seems strange that they could identify a bad wire going into an outlet after a fire so hot that it melted down an aluminum engine block. When my barn burned years ago, it was assumed to have been electrical because it started in the corner of the barn where the fuse box was. There was no way you could identify a wire that started it.

 

[chcase]

There are some really great fire inspecters that can pin point where the fire started even after a really bad fire.Just like a few really good mechanics that can tell you what your engine problem is by only listening to it run

 

[DelMN]

agree

 

[NY 986]

I am not trying to make light of the situation but it seems to me the lesson is to be preemptive in terms of problems. Also, don't have all the eggs in one basket (building). Sometimes we get too comfortable with a situation allowing potential problems to stack up like fire wood. I could not sleep knowing a vast majority of my worldly goods were kept all in one building. I don't care if it was an all metal building things can happen. Fuel can leak from a truck or tractor allowing the spread of a fire. The friend can do what he wants but he should talk to professionals such as his insurance agent and the local fire chief as to how this could have been avoided or minimized. Right now the friend is going off of the deep end over this.

 

[sms]

I was in a house right after a fire with the investigator. He showed us and explained his finding and it made sense how fire had started and spread. Was determined it was a power cord under a desk but could not determine which cord to what.
House was damaged badly enough that we demolished it and built new on the existing foundation.

 

[ss55]

That sounds improbable. Did you hear that from the fire inspector or is that what the owner is telling people? The two can be very different.

 

[sms]

About ten years ago a sister-in-law's fabric shelter collapsed due to about seven feet of snow in three days(central NY). Vehicles heavy equipment inside. Contents were not covered. When they purchased insurance they thought they were getting coverage for building and contents. My opinion is agents are no longer agents but sales people looking for bonuses not the good of the client. Another example my friend had a huge gravel pit, dragline operation, he insured his pay loaders in case one ever got to close and fell into the lake. We had a bad flood and the loaders ended up under water, found out they were not covered in the fine print. The owner of the insurance company also a friend of ours admitted it was his mistake and paid for a new loader. The one flooded loader was repaired by dealer but never worked right afterwards so declared a loss)

 

[moresmoke]

Insurance is a product meant to control your risk. If you want no risk, pay up for total coverage against loss. If you are willing to risk everything, keep your money in your pocket and take your chances.

I have a few large ticket items insured, along with those that I need for day to day use. Loader backhoe, compact tractor, etc. I need those to function here. I also have quite a few old tractors. None of them are insured. If they were gone tomorrow, I would be disappointed, but life would go on. None of them are anything that I am counting on the value of to survive.

This does however remind me I need to evaluate the tool coverage in my shop, as that value has grown and probably needs updating.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Interesting story ..... my friend's house burnt down about 12 years ago and the insurance company accepted his claim except for a new concrete basement. They insisted on using the old foundation. They fought for some time back and forth but meanwhile, the owner couldn't find a contractor who would risk putting up a new structure on the old basement, how could they be expected to stand behind their work built on something that was perhaps 50 years of age and had gone through a fire? Eventually he won out in the argument and got a brand new concrete basement along with the upper half.

 

[sms]

The foundation we were working with was block and we called for concrete, souped it up and filled the block. I am not sure whose decision it was to demolish the house and build in the foundation. It may have been the owners. The house did have extensive damage. We were there to tarp the roof, windows, and doors

 

[1948CaseVAI]

Is there a question in there? Also wondering why the title of the post is insurance? Seems that as far as you posted the insurance company is doing its job.

 

[W_B]

(quoted from post at 18:15:43 04/26/22) Interesting story ..... my friend's house burnt down about 12 years ago and the insurance company accepted his claim except for a new concrete basement. They insisted on using the old foundation. They fought for some time back and forth but meanwhile, the owner couldn't find a contractor who would risk putting up a new structure on the old basement, how could they be expected to stand behind their work built on something that was perhaps 50 years of age and had gone through a fire? Eventually he won out in the argument and got a brand new concrete basement along with the upper half.

Folks, check your policy. Some don't cover basements or foundations, or structures below ground. My company had a commercial policy that did not include foundations, but they could be added. The other policy did include underground and foundations. In fact read your policy in its entirety, don't depend on everything your agent may say, the contract prevails.