The Ins and Outs of Insurance

So you pay your homeowner's insurance bill for YEARS, right??? Finally, you regrettably must make a claim. Within weeks a check arrives to make you whole again. Pouff!!! There goes THAT daydream. Today I received an itemized list from my insurance company (almost six months after the catastrophe) telling me that they are going to pay less than half of the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina. Now, mind you, we have moldy ceilings in one room and in two rooms the ceilings have collapsed. A third room is on the verge of collapse and there are water lines in two of my light fixtures. Oh! And did I happen to mention the Sumo Wrestler sized hole in the roof of my bedroom??? And the bucket or so of water that pours in when it rains despite the $2,000 blue tarp that we had installed at our own expense because FEMA doesn't want to touch asbestos shingles. I don't know what they think they will catch from my asbestos shingles that they haven't already been exposed to hanging around with the likes of Brownie and Chertoff. But wait! There's more! The letter states that I have "180 days from date of loss" to complete any repairs and make any supplemental claims. Of course, it doesn't really mention that I received this statement more than 180 days since the date of the loss.

My eye started twitching as I read it, but I have to take a deep breath and start composing my response. The first thing that comes to mind is "ARE YOU PEOPLE SMOKING CRACK OR SOMETHING???"