Couple of questions if anyone that has been thru this can answer. House flooded on Buffalo Bayou, mortgage is thru Chase.

• Flood insurance adjuster says we probably wont see any funds for 4-5 months. I know bank has to have inspector a certain intervals to release partial funds. Does that mean I cant have any remodel work done till the funds are sent from insurance? I can fund the work, and hope to get reimbursed from ins, just dont know if that will screw me in the end.
• Say I want to do more work than what is on my adjusters worksheet or was in house before flood. For example, new tile in laundry and guest bath, new larger elect panel and service, new AC system, etc. Upgrades while house is all torn apart anyway. Say i get 100k from insurance, but remodel work only cost 75k. can i use the remaining 25k on home improvements? Or does mortgage just keep it towards principal?
• Does all work have to fund thru a general contractor? I work for a commercial GC, and i have access to multiple subs to do work for me directly. Can i act as the GC myself?

Are you in the 100 year?

No, in 500 Yr.

If you had a $250K policy, it may take a little longer because you probably didn't max it out. The adjuster will recommend the amount of $$ to award. First call your agent and check on the status of your claim. Next, the most likely scenario is that your flood insurance will issue a check to your mortgage company, who will then transfer the money to you. You will be able to work with contractors directly, with no more interaction with insurance company or banks. Your bank may have a different policy, but this is common.

I don't know what your equity position is on your house, but the bank can only keep what you owe on the house. Funds in excess of that should be passed to you immediately.

4-5 months would be ridiculous for the payments to start. The requirements for disbursement will vary from one mortgage company to another. Some may give you a big chunk of it, and wait for a certificate of occupancy to release the last of it. Some may require progress (which sounds like a bunch of work at this point.)

Your settlement is something that you work out with your adjuster. If they accept your quote and approve that settlement, as long as you spend the money on the structure, you should be fine legally. If you end up spending some of it on other expenses, I highly doubt they're going to come after you.

Anyone else got their number from flood insurance yet?

Anyone doing the supplemental? Are you really not allowed to start any work if you are doing a supplemental? Any idea how long this process would take?

Thanks

I got my numbers from my adjuster. Looks like I maxed out both policies. I'm also curious how this is going to work. If they give you $250 for the structure policy, and you only spend $200 to repair, what happens to the remaining $50k?

Everyone seems to be still figuring it out. Several people I know have gotten advance checks (as in before the final number is figured out.) The amount seems to depend on how much they estimated the total claim to be.

You may not know what the total claim payout will be for 4-5 months, but you should be able to get an advance check pretty quickly.

My mom and sister both got about 30% of the initial estimate that the adjuster gave them as an advance. She got a portion of the contents finds as well. At the pace that things are happening, putting all of that towards the structure will get her a good portion of the way to being back in the house.

i got my final estimate back, close to maxing out both contents and building. going through final review and hopefully will be final with a week or so. after that checks are mailed. Contents will just be a check made out to me and deposited. Building will be to me and mortgage company and they will endorse and drop in escrow which i will have to draw against based on contractor progress.

best case scenario i will have checks in 2 weeks, should have them worst case 1 month. once i get the ok for final numbers i'll shell out my own cash to contractor to get started and pay myself back.

I got my insurance checks today delivered to my door. Max on both policies. Contents check made out to me, structure made out to me and mortgage company.

Here is how it worked for us so far:

1. Bugged the heck out of our adjuster and befriended him/helped him w/ computer stuff to get try and get done quicker. We ended up 2nd in line
2. Were super organized, got our contents list to him in excel and all pictures to them quickly via google docs
3. They fully approved all contents with no questions asked. We gave pictures/print out of replacement item on everything above $500
4. Received dwelling report and total $ amount. We had replacement cost insurance and they paid us replacement cost up front. Don't have to go back and get that after the fact
5. Contents checks go directly to us
6. Dwelling checks go to mortgage company and us. Chase in our case and they set up escrow. https://www.insuranceclaimcheck.com
7. Analyzed the adjuster's report heavily ensuring everything was as discussed. No issues with it. Analyzed the contractor estimates to find differences and printed a formal letter and detail to submit a supplemental $ request. Currently waiting on this now.
8. We are picking final contractor and getting work started hopefully next week or week after
9. Keep hearing it will take up to 90 days to redo our house (2700 sq ft, 7 inches of water in house for 4 days or so)
10. if we get supplemental, it should cover everything in contractor estimate

Hopefully this helps everyone in the process. My advice -- get everything to your adjuster ASAP and befriend them. Best of luck to all, this process is painful and slow.

This is exactly same process as us, except we had 54 inches of water so we maxed out and don't need to/ can't file for more. Glad to have the money and start moving on.

Anyone know what happens if you fix the house for less than the amount from the insurance?
Does the mortgage company hold it in escrow for regular escrow payments or cut a check back to us for the remainder once the job is done?

Do we have to pay the rest back to FEMA?

You have to restore it at least to what it was. That is what the inspector will be checking for. They will use your adjusters worksheet to check. If you can do that for less, and pass the final inspection, then the balance of the money is yours. The mortgage company cannot apply is towards your mortgage or any back payments. If you choose to do that later, that's up to you.

thanks for the note -- glad to hear

Replacement cost in a flood policy? What you talkin' bout, Willis?