We had a garage fire in December and our house has not been rebuilt yet. Our Public Adjuster is working with our Insurance provider and they haven't come to an amount agreement. In the meantime my husband and I are broke and we can't afford our house payments anymore. At the time of purchase we were told we would have the same payment of $1800.00 with a 30 yr fix loan. Since we were first home buyers we didn't think to ask about our escrow account. The lender was qouting us at P & I, not PMI and our mortgage went up to $2200.00 a month. We don't want to foreclose, but we just can't afford the new payment and our lender has stated there is nothing they can do and that we are stuck. I'm afraid if we walk away from our house the insurance will not cover the fire damages and unsalvagable property we lost. Don't know what to do.

ScottGem

The insurance pays the claim based on when the incident occured. So, even if you lose the house, that shouldn't affect the claim. However, there is a caveat here. The insurance is designed to make you whole. Most likely the insurance will pay to rebuild the house, but its not going to give you a check so you can walk away with it.

jjmcguire

What will likely happen is the carrier will pay you for your damaged personal property and then pay your lender for damage to the house. Follow up with your public adjuster and see what offers the carrier has made. I'm not a big fan of PA's. Remember he/she is working for you, they're taking a fee. Make sure they give you updates. Let them know of this problem. It may become important when the settlement check is cashed.

JudyKayTee

My experience has been - and only my experience - that a public adjuster gets you a great deal more money, even after their percentage, than dealing directly with your insurance company.

Every penny the insurance company doesn't give you stays in their pocket.

And homeowners insurance is - as Scott said - a claims made policy - it's your coverage on the date of the loss that counts.