Well, I can finally tell the whole story...well, almost the whole story...because it's not done quite yet.
This is the saga of the tree that fell on the motorhome...okay, it's not about the tree...it's about the motorhome (and it's dwellers).
It's kinda long, so go get yourself a cup of coffee (or tea) and a cookie...lol
Back in August, when we first got to Iowa, we went through that horrible thunderstorm with 85 mph sustained winds (and 105 mph gusts)...and the rain was gushing through the window frames (because rvs just aren't made to resist water being blown sideways at it at 85 mph). The wind was blowing so hard that it was pushing the slide-out in about 6 inches and water was absolutely flowing in around it, too, so we brought the slides in on the windy side of the motorhome (which was good timing because just a couple of minutes later, the tree fell on the motorhome on that side, and would have crushed the slide if it had still been out). We were running around like crazy people, trying to stuff towels around all the windows to stop the torrents of rainwater from coming in. When it was all said and done, every towel we had was soaking and dripping water all over (I just threw them all in the shower to deal with later).
But now we had a tree leaning on the motorhome...aack!
The next day, the owner of the rv park (an awesome guy!) brought in a guy who had some seriously mad tractor skills...he lifted the tree off the motorhome enough so Dale could back the coach out from under it...then he dropped the tree on the ground, picked it up with the tractor and just drove away with it! (I got it on video...it's pretty cool)
After the tree was removed and our site was cleaned up, Dale got the motorhome set back up in our spot. I went around taking pictures of the damage to our rig, and went inside to finish cleaning up the water. If you've been following me, you know what comes next...yep!...the broken knee...but that's an entirely different storyline altogether...this one is about the poor motorhome.
Dale called the insurance company, whose adjuster called and said he couldn't come out for 2 weeks due to family issues. Now, our original plan was to pull out on September 9th, but that went sideways when my knee did...lol.
So the adjuster came out, spent about 15 minutes actually looking at the motorhome, sat in his car for about a half hour uploading pictures, and left.
A few weeks later we got a letter from the insurance company with their estimate for the repairs...it totaled about $6500...(which is a joke because that wouldn't even cover the labor to fix it, not counting parts to be replaced, or the repainting that needs to be done).
Dale called the adjuster and asked if it would be a problem if we waited until spring to fix it, since there weren't any leaks, plus we wanted to take it to the factory to have them do the work. He said that wouldn't be a problem.
(In the meantime, I was sitting on the couch with a broken knee, waiting for surgery...the rv park owner shuffled us around to a couple of different sites (because he was full up for the season and we weren't in his plan...like I said...he's an awesome guy! He felt really bad about my knee, and it wasn't his fault in any way...he even gave us an incredible break on the rent!...but again, that's another story)
When we finally left Iowa, about 6 weeks later than we had planned, thanks to my dumb knee, and got down to Texas, Dale noticed a few more issues that hadn't reared their ugly heads yet (because we hadn't moved the coach yet). So he called the Iowa adjuster and asked if someone from the Rockport area could come out and look at the new issues, and also discuss a couple of issues that the insurance company had denied.
So the local adjuster here came out and looked at the motorhome with Dale, documented the new issues, and then he said that the 2 issues (the door leaking, and the crack in the skin by the driver's window) were wear and tear and wouldn't be covered. Now, the adjuster said that the rubber seal at the top of the door was leaking and the water was getting in that way (but he totally neglected the metal runner that blocks that from happening...he didn't want to acknowledge that) and he also said that the crack in the skin at the driver's window was due to water in the wall that was delaminating the skin and that wouldn't be covered because he said the water was getting into the wall because the seals on our rain gutters was bad, and that's also where the water was getting into the door.
(He also had to add some scratches to the claim because when he went up on the roof, his ladder scratched the paint)
Well, my story is about half done...so you might want to refill your cup and get another cookie...
After the adjuster left, Dale called in a local rv repair guy to seal the gutters so the water issues wouldn't get worse. When the repair guy went up on the roof, he said there's no caulking at those places...that the seal is behind the gutter...there's no way for it to leak...and that what the adjuster saw was some of the paint peeling off the rain gutters.
Dale called the adjuster with the repair guy right there and they argued with him, but the adjuster just dug in his heels and kept making up new stories...the repair guy also looked at the cracked skin and said there's no way it was delamination...he agreed totally that it was from the impact of the motorhome getting slammed around by the high winds (during the storm, the motorhome was literally being tilted to the side, with the driver's side lifting about a foot and then being slammed back down...it was a crazy storm)
The adjuster also said that we hadn't reported the crack previously, but that's just plain not true, because I had sent a picture of it to the insurance company before the Iowa adjuster had come out.
So it cost us $100 for the rv repair guy to come out and tell us there's nothing to do...but he did argue on our behalf with the Texas adjuster, so that was maybe worth it...maybe...
The Texas adjuster told Dale that those issues had already been denied twice, and when Dale asked who he could take the dispute to that was over the adjuster, he was told there was no one he could talk to, and nothing he could do because he had agreed to the estimate...now, mind you, we hadn't and still haven't agreed to anything...just because the insurance company sends us a letter does in no way mean that we accept it!!
Let's back up just a little bit to when we first got back to Rockport...Dale called the Tiffin factory to see if we could take the coach there in the spring...but they have so many new units coming back for warranty work that they won't take anything over a year old for repairs...bummer! They gave him a list of local authorized repair places...
We went out one day to check out all the repair places on our list...2 of them didn't exist anymore, and the rest said that they would need to have the coach for 2 days for inspection, that we would have to empty it out of all of our possessions, and that we would be responsible for the cost of the inspection at $140 an hour (and that they might be able to incorporate that expense into the claim, but we would have to pay it up front...it makes sense that they don't want to put in a bunch of labor for the inspection, then we go somewhere else for repairs, but we just don't have that kind of money...that's $1000 a day!) Plus, they all said that it would take a minimum of 1 month for the actual repairs, and possibly up to 5 months! Yikes! AND the adjuster told us that he knows of 3 units that have been waiting for parts for 9 (yes I said 9) months!! That puts us in Texas through the summer...and that's and idea that I'm really not fond of!
So here we are, trying to figure out where we're going to stay for 1-5 months while our motorhome is being torn apart and rebuilt...and where the heck we're going to store everything we own...(because we live in it, and it's just plum full of great stuff!). We found a couple who would rent us a 32' camp trailer by the month, but they want to be able to go camping this summer...so then what? We also had some wonderful friends from here who go north in the summer, who said if things worked out, we could use their place. AND the church we've been going to down here offered to let us use an enclosed trailer they have to store the stuff that wouldn't fit in the camp trailer. So things were starting to work out that way....
But when the Texas adjuster got here, he said that the local places really don't work on big motorhomes and he gave us names of 3 places that do...one in Houston and 2 in San Antonio, and both cities are about 3 hours away...
So Dale called all 3 places, and one of them is a guy who repairs, rebuilds, and remodels huge expensive coaches like Prevost buses. He said he could do the inspection in a couple of hours, and that then it is his job to argue with the insurance company on our behalf...AND he could do the inspection any time we could get the coach up there...
So that's where we went yesterday...we drove 3 1/2 hours to Texas Custom Coach...we almost missed it because we were looking for a sales lot, and this place doesn't buy and sell...their sole business is repairs and remodels...that's all they do...and their shop yard was full of big buses...
Dale met with the service manager there...in 1 1/2 hours, he inspected the coach, took photos, agreed with us about the door, said there's no way that the skin around the driver's window is delaminating, that the crack was caused by an impact...took pictures of the passenger window that just started leaking water into its frame on this trip (because we hadn't been driving in the rain until yesterday morning)...and said that now his work begins, proving to the insurance company that these issues should be covered (he said he has a great relationship with the adjuster in his area)...I hope he wins all the arguments and gets it all covered!
And since he'll already have the paint for our rig, we're going to have him fix a scuff on the front end that was there when we bought it...but that's on us...
Dale told the service manager that he definitely wants them to do the work...they didn't even charge us for the inspection...the SM was shocked when Dale asked what the inspection was going to cost us and he told the SM what the other places had said. Then Dale asked the SM when they could get the coach in for the repairs and he was told that the soonest appointment was March 7th...but that the repairs would only take a week!!!!
AND we don't have to take anything out of it while they work on it...AND we can stay in it during the nights (except when they are doing the painting because of the fumes)
So we've gone from having to unload our home, move into a camper for 1 to 5 months, be totally displaced, possible wait 9 months for parts...to living in our home until March, staying in it while it's worked on (except for a night or 2), and the repairs taking a week!
I'd say this story is going to have a happy ending!!!
