{"id":299,"date":"2016-02-20T21:38:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T21:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/rebuilding\/?p=299"},"modified":"2016-11-18T21:36:12","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:36:12","slug":"after-the-storm-roars-through-insurance-troubles-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/rebuilding\/2016\/02\/20\/after-the-storm-roars-through-insurance-troubles-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"After The Storm Roars Through, Insurance Troubles Mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even with insurance, storm-related expenses can pile up fast. Lindsay Diaz knows that firsthand. The Rowlett duplex she owned was blown apart on Dec. 26. She\u2019s trying to juggle a full-time job, a baby, and the challenge of rebuilding her house and her life. The biggest problem? She’s underinsured.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Even a month after moving in, Lindsay Diaz isn\u2019t completely settled into her rental house in Forney. Boxes fill the kitchen, and there’s some random furniture on the porch.<\/p>\n

Eight-month-old Arian doesn\u2019t seem to mind, leaping happily in a donated bouncy chair, while mom looks on with a grin.<\/p>\n

She still can\u2019t believe how close they came to disaster.<\/p>\n

Diaz, her boyfriend and the baby were all home in Rowlett the night of the storm. When the weather reports turned serious, her boyfriend took her and Arian into the bathtub.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the sudden, he said, \u2018here it comes,\u2019” Diaz recalls. “And, sure enough, 10\u00a0seconds later, it came roaring through the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lindsay

Lindsay Diaz and her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, in the living room of their Rowlett home. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201cIt didn\u2019t fully hit me until a couple of weeks later. I just broke down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindsay Diaz, tornado survivor<\/div>
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Diaz felt the tub lift off the ground and slam back down. For a moment, she thought she might get swept away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remembered thinking ‘oh, my gosh; what am I going to do?” Diaz says. “Am I going to be able to hold the baby? Is the tornado going to take him from me? Is this going to hurt?’\u201d<\/p>\n

When the storm finally passed, Diaz saw what so many North Texans did the night after Christmas:\u00a0a\u00a0wrecked house full of broken furniture with holes in the walls and part of the roof peeled off.<\/p>\n

Diaz was stunned, and she stayed that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t fully hit me until a couple of weeks later,” she said. “I just broke down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Michael

Michael Judd of C.M. Landers Construction and Demolition cleans up what is left of a house near the home of Lindsay Diaz, her boyfriend Arif, and their 7-month-old son, Arian, in Rowlett after the December tornadoes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

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‘I DON’T HAVE A HOME’<\/h5>\n

Now that she\u2019s had time to get used to her new reality, Diaz isn’t numb anymore.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s worried \u2014 about money.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all I think about,” she says. “I don\u2019t have a big savings account. I actually had to get into that while being out of my home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lindsay

Lindsay Diaz holds her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, while speaking with Stephen Miller of Lone Star Remodeling, left, and Joel Weimer of The Next Project Company about how to rebuild.\u00a0Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

Diaz owned her side of the duplex. She has homeowner\u2019s insurance, but her reimbursement check won\u2019t quite cover the repairs she\u2019ll need to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should I do with the money I get from the insurance?” she asks. “Should I pay the mortgage? Should I use the rest of the money to repair, which is not going to be enough? I\u2019m homeless. I don\u2019t have a home and I need to figure out what I\u2019m going to do to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Insurance troubles are common after disaster strikes.<\/p>\n

About 60 percent of American homeowners are underinsured by an average of 17 percent, according to the research firm CoreLogic.<\/p>\n

That means if a $150,000 home is a total loss, the typical homeowner would be short by more than $25,000 when the time came to rebuild.<\/p>\n

Jerry Hagins, with the Texas Department of Insurance, said\u00a0keeping your coverage up to date is the most important thing you can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we recommend that folks review their policy at least once a year. That\u2019s also a good time to review your home inventory to see if you need to add anything to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means making sure that your home\u2019s value hasn\u2019t spiked and that you haven\u2019t filled your house with new things that might need replacing. Hagins said some large insurance companies automatically increase your premium each year to help you keep up. Most don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people will buy a policy when they buy their house, and then they forget about it, or they don\u2019t look at it,” Hagins says. “Sometimes they don\u2019t even know where their policy is inside their house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe recommend that folks review their policy at least once a year. That\u2019s also a good time to review your home inventory to see if you need to add anything to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerry Hagins, Texas Department of Insurance representative<\/div>
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A damaged house near the home of Lindsay Diaz, her boyfriend Arif, and their 7-month-old son, Arian, in Rowlett after the December tornadoes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

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For a list of important documents you need stored in a safe place during a storm, check out this checklist.<\/p><\/div>\n

OUT OF HER POCKET<\/h5>\n

Problems aren’t limited to just inside a home. There can be problems in the driveway, too. Cars get crushed, and a lot people don\u2019t pay the extra premiums for rental coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally we would take insurance coverage for all the possible risks that are out there,” Hagins said. “But realistically we do have to make choices, so we can\u2019t check off every single box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diaz didn\u2019t have coverage to pay for a rental car.\u00a0 When the tornado smashed her Toyota RAV4, she spent more than $1,000 on a loaner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t cheap,” she said. “It didn\u2019t come cheap. That was out of my pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diaz spends most of each day thinking about what comes out of her pocket. Since she hasn\u2019t finalized\u00a0a plan for her wrecked home, Diaz tries to save where she can. She is bringing\u00a0lunch to work. She’s cutting down on childcare, splitting duties with her boyfriend and sister instead of a paid sitter.<\/p>\n

\"Lindsay

Lindsay Diaz and her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, in the living room of their Rowlett home where they hunkered down in the bathtub for safety during the December tornadoes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/p><\/div>\n

For now, insurance covers her rent while she keeps paying her mortgage. Sometime this summer, the insurance money will run out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to pay mortgage and rent,” Diaz said. “It\u2019s going to be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

This whole process has been hard.<\/p>\n

Hugging her baby in the bathtub while a storm ripped through.<\/p>\n

Seeing her wrecked duplex when the sun came up the day after the tornado hit.<\/p>\n

Living in a hotel for a month, then finding a rental house.<\/p>\n

And, of course, the nagging worry that she might run out of money, despite having insurance and a full-time job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if the price exceeds what they\u2019re telling me?” Diaz asks. “I don\u2019t have that money and then I have to scramble, and, this will be in the future of course, I\u2019ll have to scramble around to try to get a loan and find money somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it: Even if a home is insured for double\u00a0its value, you\u2019re never really ready when a storm upends your life.<\/p>\n\n

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  • \"\"
    Lindsay Diaz and her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, visit the bathroom of their Rowlett home where they hunkered down in the bathtub for safety during the December tornadoes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    An \"Unsafe Building Danger\" sign is posted outside the Rowlett home of Lindsay Diaz. The house suffered significant damage in the December tornadoes that ripped through parts of North Texas. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Lindsay Diaz holds her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, while speaking with Stephen Miller of Lone Star Remodeling, right, and Joel Weimer of The Next Project Company about how to proceed with rebuilding their home. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    This isn't hail -- it's broken glass outside the Rowlett home of Lindsay Diaz. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    One side of Lindsay Diaz's house in Rowlett. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    Lindsay Diaz and her son, 7-month-old Arian Krasniqi, in front of their Rowlett home that was seriously damaged. Lindsay and her boyfriend, Arif, were first-time homeowners and had lived in the duplex for three years. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n
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    What is left of a house near the home of Lindsay Diaz, her boyfriend Arif, and their 7-month-old son, Arian, in Rowlett after the December tornadoes. Photo\/Lara Solt<\/div><\/div><\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n