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Not Everything is Lost....
Ms. J. has lived in her Washington, D.C., home in Northeast for 32 years. She owns the home, which she shares with her 37-year-old daughter and 6-year-old granddaughter.
Last year, after a major windstorm, Ms. J. filed a claim with Nationwide Insurance Company to cover the cost of damaged roof shingles. It was her first ever claim with the company, even though she had had a homeowners policy with them for years. Nationwide agreed to pay Ms. J. $200 for the repairs. The company also dispatched an inspector to check out Ms. J.’s residence. Soon thereafter, Ms. J.was hit by a cascade of problems beyond her ability to handle on her own.
The Nationwide inspector reported back to the company that the home needed a lot of expensive repairs. A new letter went out to Ms. J., informing her that Nationwide would cancel her insurance coverage if the issues were not quickly resolved. The letter cited problems with her roof, bedroom ceiling, and damaged concrete steps and sidewall outside.
Upon receiving the letter, Ms. J., who is 62 and has high blood pressure, became extremely upset and anxious. As her despair deepened, she turned to Yachad. Yachad staff and Dave Olfky, a general contractor, met with Ms. J to discuss her situation. “I was crying throughout the interview,” Ms. J. said. “I couldn’t afford to do the work the insurance company was requiring or they would cancel me.” Ms. J. remembers that Yachad told her not to get discouraged, that Yachad would take care of the concrete issues and the other repair needs, too.
Yachad staff advised Ms. J. to switch her homeowners’ insurance to Geico, where she already had her auto insurance. They wanted to ensure Ms. J. would have some coverage while Yachad’s contractors completed the needed repairs.
Ms. J. made the switch to Geico, but her problems didn’t end there. Geico, too, after agreeing to insure her, eventually threatened to cancel her coverage unless she made a series of expensive repairs, including some that differed from the repairs Nationwide required. In addition to fixing the home’s concrete front steps, Geico demanded that Ms. J paint the door and window frames and fix the roof. Adding to her distress, Geico notified Ms. J. during the Christmas holiday season that unless the repairs were completed by January 4, 2025, the company would cancel her homeowners’ insurance. The deadline became virtually impossible to meet when a required permit was delayed and inclement weather began sidelining Yachad’s crews.
Yachad’s leaders became concerned. Was the virtually identical treatment Ms. J received from two large insurance companies a coincidence? Or was this a pattern beginning in gentrifying neighborhoods like D.C.’s Brentwood community, where Ms. J. lives. Why were insurance firms threatening to cancel coverage for their lower-income homeowners unless they immediately made repairs they couldn’t afford?
Read more about Yachad's work with Ms. J and the partners who help along the way in next month's March Developments.
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