Ohio homeowner returns home to find his neighbor's contractor has accidentally demolished his garage and things are missing from it: 'I really don't want to keep paying out of pocket while their insurance drags this out'

The unit we were renting flooded a few years ago in a freak-of-nature weather event. (0/10 would not recommend.) Luckily, we had insurance that covered it, and we had only just moved out from living with roommates and had to get a bunch of things of our own for the first time. So everything was brand new, we could easily find receipts, and there was no calling into question by any insurance, adjusters, or other interested parties as to what the cost of replacement was. 

I mean, don't get me wrong, it was painful seeing all that beautiful, carefully selected furniture get ruined, but at least we got paid in full for what it was going to cost to replace it. This homeowner hasn't been so lucky this far with the contractor's insurance after the contractor accidentally demolished his garage after getting mixed up between his and his neighbor's property

See the homeowner's original story below, and then we'll talk about what you can do to best prepare for these situations, and, lastly, look at the advice they received in their original viral thread.

My neighbor’s contractor demolished my garage by mistake

Location: Ohio

I came home and found most of my detached garage demolished and being loaded into a dumpster.

Source: Brief-Gur-1071

My neighbor is having his old garage torn down and rebuilt. Both garages are accessible from the same alley and apparently the contractor went onto the wrong property and started on mine. By the time anyone realized, the roof was gone, one wall was down and a bunch of stuff that was inside had already been mixed into the debris.

The foreman admitted to me and my neighbor that they screwed up. Now their insurance company is involved, but the adjuster is saying my garage was old and they may only owe me whatever its depreciated value was, not the cost of actually rebuilding it.

They’re also asking me for receipts for tools, a bike and some other things that disappeared with the debris. Some of that stuff I've owned for years and obviously don't have receipts anymore.

I paid for temporary fencing and a storage unit for everything that survived, but I really don't want to keep paying out of pocket while their insurance drags this out.

The city also confirmed there was never a demolition permit issued for my property.

Do I deal with their insurance directly or is this at the point where I should get an attorney? Can I actually demand that the contractor rebuild what they destroyed instead of just paying me the value of an old garage?

When things get older, depreciation starts to become a larger and larger factor. And it gets harder to track down receipts, too. Whether it was a paper one that you meant to save but it ended up shoved into a drawer somewhere, or you were happy for it to be safe on the retailer's system under your account where you could always go back and access it. Except they just updated their website and didn't bother to transfer any previous sales over when they did so, so now that safe electronic copy is long gone. 

With my flood, too. I was able to take very clear photos of each belonging. This isn't the case when things go “missing," get stolen, or there is a fire or something where the evidence is long gone.

It might sound crazy to any of you reading who have never had to go through this, but I would 100% recommend going through everything of value that you own and creating a safe spreadsheet or something somewhere linked to photos of it. Write down serial numbers for anything important, and track down those receipts and save an electronic copy and link that to it too. It won't take nearly as long as you think it's going to and you'll be glad that you did if you ever need it. Heck, if you want to do it the easiest way possible, at the very least grab your phone and carefully make your way around each room in your home, highlighting valuables that you might need to replace should they go walkabout or some other unforeseen disaster happen. 

At least, when you start having issues with insurance like this homeowner did, you'll have some hard evidaance to fall back on that the thing you're claiming for indeed existed. 

jammaslide

When you get and agreement from the contractor, I would choose another contractor to rebuild. The one who tore it down will likely do cheap. shoddy work just to be done with it.

Pearliegirlie1259

Also. Report this to your Homeowner’s Insurance. Who better to deal with an insurance company than their competitor?

CerbIsKing

Lawyers will be frothing at the mouth to sue the contractor company and the home owner.

alligatorchronicles

In most jurisdictions, property damage claims will not payout your attorney fees. What this means is that attorneys almost never take property damage claims on contingency, like you are used to hearing about on personal injury cases. You may need an attorney, but you'll likely need to pay him out of pocket, and that amount won't be added to the claim proceeds

hypnoticimager

You need an attorney.

drcigg

Get a lawyer and this will be settled the right way. If you go with their insurance they will fight you tooth and nail. They should be scared when you get a lawyer involved.

thatlunchboxkid

Contact your insurance. They will get involved

No_Organization9713

Did the property owner need to pull a permit to demo the old garage? If yes, I’d start with contacting the building permit department.
Do you have homeowners insurance that covers damage like this? I know it’s not the best option, but might be worth the small increase to claim this.

Intrepid_Mousse_2364

You’ll have to sue the insurance company to get replaced

trevbot

get a lawyer or your homeowners insurance involved. They admitted fault, keep all receipts of that and give it to whomever will be representing you.

SiriShopUSA

Turn it into your home insurance.. they have a team of lawyers.

FaultRealistic9344

Make a claim with your home owners company. They probably have a replacement cost policy for “other” structures that are part of your property. Let them take care of rebuilding your garage and they can go after the at fault contractor. You will initially be out your deductible but you won’t be fighting over replacement value vs. ACV. When they go after the contractor, the first thing they will do is pay back your deductible. And if for some reason they are not able to collect anything, you can still sue for your deductible in small claims court.