Imagine you’re married and starting a family, so you buy a home to set down roots — and then you spot a roof leak. This sounds like a disaster, but not an unfixable one. After all, you can just get the leak fixed, your insurance will cover it and you can move on.
Unfortunately, that easy fix is definitely not the experience of one Sacramento couple, as reported by Alexis Keller and Marvin Uson. Instead, their home has been sitting stripped down to bare wood for over a year. It’s unlivable and they say they’ve been waiting for months for their insurance company to make the necessary fixes.
Now, their crisis has reached a new level as the family risks being homeless. Compounding the issue is that the couple has a baby to care for as well.
"We don’t feel safe, we have housing insecurity," Keller said. "We have a 10-month-old daughter and really, we just want to be able to provide a home for her and not knowing where we’re going to be in a couple of weeks, no one wants that."
Here’s how the couple found themselves in the situation in the first place, as well as what homeowners can do if their insurance companies fail to pay a claim as promised and in a timely way.
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Issues from the get-go
Keller and Uson had bought a home in 2021. Unfortunately, problems with the property surfaced about one month after they found out they were pregnant.
"There was a leak coming from the ceiling fan and of course, as a homeowner, you’re thinking, this is not good. Especially when it was raining outside and it was pouring, with winds," Uson said. The leak eventually spread throughout the home, requiring the house to be taken down to the studs and the floors to be ripped out. The house was unlivable and the couple had to move out.
"We found out we were pregnant maybe a month before this happened and then, you know, we see the leak and then it ruins the whole house. It’s anxiety-inducing," Keller stressed.
Fortunately, the couple had insurance through Progressive and a partnered insurer, Homesite, and one of the first steps they took was to reach out to submit their claim. This should have been the end of their woes. But, unfortunately, that’s just when things started to spiral. "We received a letter that said the work for this home could be completed within four months," Uson said.
That timeline didn’t happen. Instead, the couple was met with repeated problems and lapses in communication and few answers. ”If anything, we’ve been pestering them and adamant about reaching out constantly and we’ve been just pushed off to the side,” adds Keller, and still no progress. In over a year, the roof has been replaced, but nothing else has been fixed and the couple doesn’t know when they will be able to move forward and get back home.
"We say, hey, you know, what’s the update and then we get another call of, ‘you’ve gotten another desk adjuster,’ and we have to recycle that cycle over and over again, spanning over, what, five months," said Keller.
With their baby girl now 10 months old, the couple is currently at risk of losing access to the temporary housing they’ve been staying in, because the insurance funding for additional living expenses is about to run out. With their home unfixed and no more funds, there’s nowhere to go.
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What are your rights when an insurer doesn’t pay?
It’s possible, based on the couple’s story, that the insurer is violating the law.
Under section 2695.7 of the California Code, insurers who receive proof of a claim have 40 calendar days to accept or deny it, in whole or in part and must clearly document the amounts accepted. The same law also gives insurers 30 days to make payment from the time when the company accepts liability and agrees on an amount to pay.
The law also says that an insurance company that delays without justification must pay interest and, if necessary, attorney fees if the couple requires a lawyer to help them collect what is owed to them.
Anyone facing this type of issue can also complain to the commissioner of insurance. Also, it is advisable to speak to a lawyer.
A letter from a lawyer could suffice in getting the insurer to properly respond, while the attorney can also explain legal options, including, potentially, the right to pursue a bad faith claim.
Every insurance contract has an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and an insurer that acts unreasonably violates this rule. Insurers can be held responsible for damages, including those specified by the contract, as well as additional compensation — potentially including punitive damages, depending on the circumstances.
A lawyer could mean the difference between getting the compensation necessary to rebuild and additional delays.
Of course, Keller and Uson may not want a legal battle. "We just want to be settled and have our house done so we can move in," they said.
Still, a legal battle may have found them, leaving them with few other options.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
