I've never made a claim on my home insurance until Ike. Yesterday I received my insurance checks in the mail. One of them is addressed not only to me, but also to my mortgage holder. How do I get the mortgage holder to countersign the check?

I am clueless.

Call the mortgage company. Number should be on a statement or online. Ask for the insurance claims department. Be sure to send it certified, overnight. They lose insurance checks all the time. Depending on the amount of the check be prepared for them to keep it and give you amounts over time after you have proved the previous "draw" was spent on you home. It is usually a very slow process. You cannot just take it up to the local branch (BOA, Wells Fargo, etc.) to be signed.

[This message has been edited by Cadet05 (edited 11/14/2008 7:22a).]

Very helpful, thanks.

Another kink in the situation. They only approved a patch job, but my adjuster told me (and it is noticed on the forms sent with my claims check) that the shingles are so brittle that if they try to patch the entire roof will need to be replaced. So, I don't want to hire a contractor to patch if it means I'm gonna have to foot the bill for an entirely new roof. I really can't afford that now. I'm going to try and get a contractor to negotiate with my insurance comapny and see if they can't get me a whole new roof, I have some friends who are doing this.

That being the case, do I just hang on to these checks until that all gets worked out?

you can go ahead and cash the check, but I would wait until it all gets finalized so that way you only have to send one check to the mortgage company. Just have the ins. co. cancel the first check and issue the new amount once it is reached. BTW, my company pays for a full roof replacement if the roof is too old for an effective patch. A good contractor should be able to meet with the adjuster and get you a new roof. Request a reinspection if needed.

I don't know every bank's policy but our is any claim under $10K can be endorsed by a local bank branch.

Also be prepared that the check may be put on hold. We put all insurance checks over $1000 on a 5 day hold.

Just dealt with this today. State Farm (who I love dearly for totaling our roof today) gave us our check, also made out to Countrywide. We have to mail it to Countrywide and they said they'll just endorse and send back. Friend of mine had the same thing with Countrywide, but for a lot more money, and they opened up an escrow account of sorts for her (think 15k is their cutoff to do this).

I also have state farm and countrywide, and I took my check to the Countrywide location on Waugh Drive south of Allen Parkway and they endorsed it for me. I brought a copy of the adjusters report for them to copy and it took about 15 minutes total and I was out the door. Definitely better than mailing it in and waiting.