Insurer gives owners of sinking Gold Canyon home a 2nd look
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Following our On Your Side report, Farmers Insurance is taking another look at a Gold Canyon couple's house that's caving in.
For more Local News from KPHO: www.azfamily.com/
For more RUclips Content: / @azfamily
“Barking up the wrong tree”..this a contractor/subcontractor & building inspector issue.
The questions need to be asked: Who signed off in the final walkthrough inspection and why didn’t the building inspector catch it?
This is *not* Farmers fault nor are they obligated to cover lousy building inspections
Sounds like it goes back even farther ..... before construction or inspection. The problem goes back to the building plans. Someone involved with the engineering screwed up. I would also lay blame on whatever government agency (plans review perhaps) was responsible for reviewing and approving the building plans. Between the engineering firm and the government building plans reviewers, its disgraceful that the deficiencies in the building plans were not caught and corrected.
This is Farmers Problem. We buy insurance to cover our home in the event that all those crooked inspectors and homebuilders pull something like this. This is exactly waht insurance is for. You buy title insurrance when you close on a home in case everyone makes a mistake on the deed, transfer, property lines etc.. and this insurance protects you from all the human error. This is 100% Farmers problem. You must work for a crooked insurance company like Farmers.
No, it isn't Farmers fault. But they do have a responsibility to take care of their customers. This is a bad look for them - particularly that clause stating that they would only have covered it if the house actually fell down (probably with their customers inside given at least one of them is disabled and mostly home-bound).
But if they were to cover the costs of the repairs/replacements, then they can go after the builders/inspectors involved to recoup their costs. And we all know they've got teams of lawyers that are more than capable of wringing every single cent from the responsible parties - and if they get a good ruling or settlement? They may even make a profit.
Right now, it's a PR nightmare for them. And a lot of ppl that might have signed on to one of their policies are looking at other insurance companies. If they were to cover it and go after the builders/inspectors? That would be good PR and could even result in enough in premiums to cover the initial amount they would have to put up to fix the problem - especially if they use this story in advertising campaigns.
I agree. The contractor and municipal inspector are responsible.
How on earth were the original plans ever approved? Seems some engineer neglected to do their job.
Not neglect just incompetent. Bunch of graduates today are a joke and know nothing about how to do their job.
Would love to know the builder and inspector that signed off on this?
Inspector in many places is not an engineer but a cronie who worked for the town-likely retired or dead by now.
If the house was built incorrectly or due to builder error and built improperly, then it should fall under either the home builders warranty or under the insurance policy for improper construction and home builder negligence. check your policy under your insurance for improper installation/construction or the builder warranty for structural warranty. Worse case, file a claim with the city if the beam is not up to code, that they improperly signed off on a house that was not liveable/habitable and see who signed off on the inspection and the certificate of occupancy.
Under-designed? An understatement, for sure. Shame on the architect and builder.
Beams are horizontal structural elements. Vertical structural elements are called COLUMNS.
the structural engineer is responsible
This was a faulty build. 😢
does AZ not have a 10 year builder's warranty?....1st segment said the house is 7 years old so should be the builder's responsibility NOT the insurance company
The first segment said the house was bought 7 years before, but didn’t mention when it was built. The view from the patio was what they fell in love with at the time.
@@Shells15 says 7 years so AS I said, NO 10 years builder's warranty in the stat?
It said they bought it then, not that it was built then. It could be 30 years old for all we know. No 10 year legislated warranty in Arizona, rather a statutory eight-year implied warranty per A.R.S. § 12-552.@@michaelkendall662
Homeowners insurance does not cover construction defects or design flaws, so such claims will be denied. Instead, the builder or architect should have E&O insurance and warranties in place.
This is the builder’s fault!
Yes it is. And Farmers is more than capable of covering the associated costs up front and then taking the builders/inspectors involved to court and getting all that money back. Maybe even more if they get a good settlement. We all know they've got lawyers that would love to take on that case.
@@SadisticSenpai61 Not the responsibility of Farmers AND many builders come and go and tracking them down to sue and recover is not easy. Risky suit/investment for Farmers. Homeowners need to do it.
The report lacks of sufficient amount of details to comment. When was the stone fireplace added? Go to the county to check the permit application to find out the parties involved.
That's what I was thinking. Was the type of fireplace or placement of the fireplace changed after the building had started? Maybe the architect designed the house with bigger beams and the builder or subcontractor changed it. Inspectors failed in their jobs.
Yeah, the prior owners could have done a DIY.
I hope the insurance company goes after the folks who designed and built the place.
Who was the builder? They need to fix their error at their expense.
I have feeling the home owner realized too late go after the builder (maybe house past warranty period), so they tried go after the insurance company…. But this not an insurance issue, it’s a design flaw…
Imagine if you will this was a commercial property who would be at fault obviously the architect, the general contractor and the local inspector! At this point, I believe, farmers should pay for the repair and immediately file lawsuits against the architect, the general contractor, the subcontractors, and most of all the city county or state inspector, who has one job, and that is to look out for the homebuyer! Also, if the homeowners paid for a home inspection prior to purchasing the structure in my mind that home inspector also has some responsibility here!
Does insurance cover structural mistakes??? Why have this 'update' still pending insurance second look? Wait until there is a final answer.
I hate to be on the side of the insurance company but...
They are not responsible for the bad construction. The thing is if the structure collapsed they would have paid out the claim and gotten all the money back by taking the state to court. That is where the current owners are now stuck doing they need to get the value of the house back from the state that failed to do its job.
@@gotafarmyet4691 Then, why is Farmers Insurance issuing a policy on a defective property? Don't they even look at it?
Architects and engineers are supposed to know what they're doing.
Obviously, these didn't! Name and shame them!!
Stop these people! This is not the insurance company’s responsibility. Sue City Code Enforcement for approving failed engineering. Sue the architect and builder but leave insurance out of it. These types of fraudulent claims drive homeowners insurance higher and higher for us that do not try to cheat the insurance company.
Agreed. I am thinking that this is getting media attention because the homeowner (female) used to be a reporter. Irresponsible for the TV station to broadcast it also.
I am so sorry this happened to your beautiful home. Hopefully you can correct the problems. Prayers from Florida.
The comments here and in the previous video overwhelmingly are in favor of the insurance company. The policy is very clear in what it covers and this does not fit the coverage.
WHERE IS THE CITY HOME INSPECTER? NOT DOING HIS JOB. FIRE HIM.
There's no way homeowner's insurance should cover this. It's a design and/or building flaw. Farmers is caving in worse than the house.
Not compacted on the corner with the high wall in the driveway. They filled in with big rocks. They did not use good compacted soil. Rocks move with time. They need the compacted report.
yes it is
Yet another though niche reason to avoid two-storey homes which also require more and more expensive maintenance and repairs due to height. Even worse is silly old people (I'm old but not silly) forget stairs GUARANTEE eventual falls if you use them long enough. That's why many oldsters gradually stop using their second floor. Stairs also interfere with moving furniture.
The ideal home from a functional and safety standpoint is single-storey and it's not as if AZ lacks land. Anyone reading this should really think through the disadvantages of multi-storey dwellings without flippantly minimizing them because housing mistakes are not cheap.
There is a very simple solution for Farmers here. Cover the repairs/upgrades/replacements/whatever to make the house structurally sound and then go recoup their losses by suing the builders/inspectors that approved the building into the ground. We all know they've got massive teams of lawyers that could easily tear the builders/inspectors apart!
They'd look good to the community for taking care of their customers and if they get a good settlement/ruling? They could easily turn a profit! And frankly, even a "bad" ruling or settlement in this case would probably just be covering their costs. It wouldn't affect their long-term bottom line - only a minor hit for a quarter or two and even then, the PR behind fighting for home owners would probably get them more ppl signing up so more premiums coming in.
Her house is gorgeous !! I would be so upset they need to give her a new home just like it or fix for free
I imagine she will thank god if it goes her way instead of thanking the news agency for the publicity.
Disabled with a 2 story home?
Blind? Deaf? Insane? Paralyzed arms? There are many many disabilities that do not impact ones stair climbing ability. Stair lift "elevators" are also a thing for the stair climbing impaired. Also don't discount stair climbing canes, although anyone rich enough to buy that sort of house in Gold Canyon is unlikely to go for such a high effort poor mans solution.☺
You don't know what the disability is-she said something about staying in the home so it could be emotional/mental. Who knows and it si no one's business.
You do not place a load-bearing beam in the same direction as the joists above. They have to be perpendicular to them, in order to properly support the weight. Any novice carpenter knows this.
Your god gave you that house. Forget prayers. Sue the builder.
I hope they get the home psid in full and rebuilt correctly. I doobt that is the only problem with the home.
Sounds similar to the Florida condo disaster!😮
How did the house pass initial inspection?
Did the prior owner put the fireplace in DIY?
This is so scary
farmers needs to pay for a lawyer to go after the builder and city inspector to make this right, thats the only fair way. the builder should pay for all repairs and the inspectors office/city should compensate the couple for temp living conditions while its fixed and fire the inspector, the couple did nothing wrong and should not come out of pocket a penny.
the insurance would stand behind their customer, the builder behind his construction and the inspector pay for missed mistake - sharing the burden.
Did they get a home inspection before buying? Go back to that home inspector and previous owner builder.
If the framing crew that did this work knew anything about what they were doing, I have no doubt they knew this would fail. The design and engineering looks like garbage. Luckily, this is not in a seismic area.
While I feel for these people, the insurance company should only be paying if something occurred to create the problem vs. the original design being flawed. Everyone's home insurance is going up drastically - mine is ridiculous and I am not in a flood zone fire zone , earthquake or hurricane zone. It is so bad that some people are dropping home insurance which is a very poor decision. My home ins .is about $5k a year-my home is not a mansion. Years ago it was about 1k. This is the problem (almost like the same reason social security is going bankrupt). Insurance companies have been lax and covering things that they should not. I think people will file false claims for theft, food damage during storms etc. (if there are multiple claims, it is time to drop them). Also, for example, while I do not, a lot of people (semi rural area) use propane heaters which should be banned but provides a cheaper way to heat. They create fires and then the fire dept. covers for people. My answer seems long winded but this is my point. It is dangerous to extend coverage for original design problems-that could double or triple the cost of home insurance for the rest of us good homeowners who had adequate inspections. I'll bet money that , because of the media involvement (I notice she used to be a reporter), they are taking a second look but they will not pay for the structural problem as it is not part of the policy.
OK. If the house totally caves in, it's covered, to whatever the limit of the insurance value may be. But to retrofit and correct the defects, which should be a fraction of replacement cost to Farmers Insurance, is not covered? Does this make sense? IMHO, Farmers would do well to correct the defects, and then go after everyone from the architect, developer, builder, and inspector.
Why would they cover a structural defect? I doubt they would actually cover it if it does collapse now because they know that it was a structural defect and would likely tell the homeowner to seek damages from whoever signed off on the build.
*Name the builder!*
It looks like insurance covers collapsed, not collapsing.
Time to go to Home Depot and buy some jack posts
Any updates
Did they have it built?
Have a home Inspector before they bought the house!?
This is an 8 month old video. Any updates?
This is why GOD created Attorneys !
Maybe if the building regs were upgraded and the inspection done properly, then rubbish like this wouldnt happen. Personally the insurance company shouldnt be liable.
"Pray to God and put my faith in God." Right, ... pray to God, not the insurance company, the news company, or anyone else. See how well that works.
You have the money to fix it. It's not suddenly collapsed so why would it be covered on the insurance policy? Maybe it's built on a sinkhole?
It's structural...it was poorly designed.
Trying to make Farmers pay for the builders/engineers mistakes.
Get over yourself madam homeowner. Everyone has trouble with insurance companies. Fight your battles without expecting special treatment.
God is not responsible for inept builders mistakes.
Sue
Quit bellyaching. You look pretty wealthy, pay for it yourself.
too bad Karen
Aside from the awful hair, she doesn't come off as disabled.
Farmers insurance is the devil 👿
There is no devil, and why would the insurance company be liable for this?
I wonder how many policy holders called and cancelled with Farmers after the first story broke.
You can bet the reason they're suddenly playing nice in the sandbox is because of the bad publicity they've been getting.
HA! FARMERS! Theres TWO KINDS IF PEOPLE YOU DONT! WANT TO PISS OFF!
A Good Lawyer With Connections and
A TV Reporter LOL! ....."We Are Farmers" And We Dont Care! "Bum Pa-Bum-Bum! Bum! Bum! Bum!"
This may not BE Farmer's fault, but it sure doesn't make them look like good guys. And to have builders not know which end of the screwdriver to use - that's even worse. I hope the Hammonds got some help on this.