Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Well Fargo Home Mortgage Did Not Pay My Homeowners Insurance and Now is Balking at Paying Claim in a Timely Manner Des Moines, Iowa

The water damage occurred on Wednesday, June 1st. I called Mercury Insurance on June 3rd when I realized the extent of the damage. Mercury informed me at that time that my coverage had been cancelled due to non-payment. Mercury did dispatch an inspector to assess the damage. He came out on Monday, June 6th. I called Wells Fargo on June 3rd to inquire about the insurance issue. They told me that I was insured. They said that their notes showed that Mercury told them no payment was needed. I asked Wells Fargo if they got a Certificate of Insurance from Mercury Insurance for the current policy period. They said no, they had not. Wells Fargo told me they needed to investigate the problem and would get back to me. On or about June 15, after calling them, Wells Fargo told me that they were still investigating the problem. They said it could take another week or two. On or about the 2nd week of July, Wells Fargo admitted that they did allow the insurance to lapse and would insure the property back dated, to cover the claim. They charged me for the insurance premium.

On or about July 18th, I was contacted by Lori David Jones, the insurance adjuster from Assurant Specialty Property for the American Security Insurance Company. She wanted to make an appointment to come out and assess the damage. I told her we were leaving on a planned vacation out of state and would not be back until the first of August.

When we got back from vacation, Ms. Jones came out and assessed the damage. She said it would take a few days to put together the claim but added she would be taking a week-long vacation herself. Remediation work began on Aug. 22nd by Serv-Pro of Cerritos. Due to the extended time from the date of the loss and the start of remediation, there was extensive mold damage. By September 1st, additional remediation work needed to be done to remove the mold. I was told by Ms. Jones that this work would exceed my coverage by $1,328.52 The remediation work was completed by Sept. 9th. I received a check(s) from the insurance company in the amount of $9175.39 to pay for the remediation and testing. This amount was less the $1,328.52 I needed to pay for the shortage of my mold coverage. Final payments to Servpro were made on Oct. 24th. On or about September 14th, Ms. Jones came back out to the house to do a final assessment payment for repairs. On Sept. 19th, Ms. Jones sent me an email with the breakdown for repairs and that I would be sent a check for $10,579.64.

I got the check on Oct 7th. It had instructions that I was to fill out the proper forms, endorse the check and then mail it back to Wells Fargo. I called Wells Fargo on Monday, Oct. 10thrd to inform then that I would act as my own general contractor. I was told that would be fine fill out a particular form, endorse the check, mail it to them. And then my request would be reviewed for payment. I was told to call back on Monday, Oct. 17th. When I called, I was told that I needed to send them a Clean Air Report. I faxed them the copy that I had that day. I called back on Thursday Oct. 20th. I was told that my request was still under review and was told that they now needed the Estimate for Repairs from the insurance adjuster. I was also told that Wells Fargo needed to have an inspector come to my home. I said Fine, set it up. I faxed them the report they requested and was told to call back next week. I called them Wednesday, Oct 26th. I was told that I needed to get an inspector out to the house. I reminded the young woman that the Inspector was discussed the week before and I was under the impression that an inspection had been ordered. I was told it had not. A rush for inspection has been placed. I was told it could take another week to set the appointment. The Inspector did come to the house on Saturday, Oct 29th and filed her report the same day for an 80% disbursement of funds based on her observations of work done and materials purchased.

To date, Wells Fargo has not disbursed any funds for repair. Now they are saying they don't have the form stating I am acting as my own contractor and it will take 7 to 10 business days to get that to me by mail and another 2 to 3 days to get the returned fax into their system for review.

While many at Loss Draft have tried to be helpful.. the "Specialists" are extremely rude and unhelpful.

If you have a mortgage with Wells Fargo... refinance with someone else if you can. If you are looking for a mortgage... anyone else but them.