Insurance Controversy Keeps Second Family Out of Home by Mark Derewicz - Free Press Staff Writer
If it is true that misery loves company Michelle and Mike McConaghy have found two new friends.
The McConaghys are the couple who told their story to the Free Press of being homeless while dealing with insurance companies who simply could not decide who should pay for the damages to their Milford Township home which was struck by a fire truck.
A second Milford Township couple, this one with three children, called the McConaghys to let them know they are not alone.
Debora and John Zylstra were forced to come home from work on June 15 after their 16-year-old daughter Stephanie spotted an electrical fire spreading throughout the basement.
She alertly called 911 and within minutes volunteer firefighters from Milford, Trumbauersville, Quakertown, Tylersport, and Sellersville arrived at the scene. Two firefighters suffered from heat exhaustion before the flames could be completely extinguished.
Since the fire, the Zylstras, like the McConaghys, have been forced to seek an alternate residence.
John and Debora stay with their two-year-old daughter, Katherine, in a Durham Township apartment paid for by an insurance company. Stephanie stays with her grandfather in Richlandtown for an easier commute to Quakertown High School and Christina, the eldest daughter, attends Bucks County Community College and lives with an aunt in Springtown.
"Everyone would be living at home if we had one," John said.
The McConaghys are eight months removed from residing in their home and are currently seeking arbitration with Allstate Insurance Co.
The Zylstras, nearly five months out of their home, have hired public adjuster, Kevin Kaufman, who knows Allstate policy through and through as part of his job. The reason? Allstate and the Zylstras can not agree on how much damage was done to the home.
Within days of the fire, Allstate sent their contractor, Ruff-Hall Builders to the site in order to assess the damages.
Ruff-Hall, the same contractor used by Allstate on the McConaghy case, estimated the damages at $83,000.
Meanwhile, The Zylstras were told by Allstate that Ruff-Hall would assess the situation but the couple was under no obligation to use this particular contractor.
The Zylstras contacted 12 contractors, and requested estimates from three. They submitted the three quotes to Allstate. They thought that Ken Walton, of Ottsville, proved to be the most knowledgeable and appropriate man for the job. His estimate of $187,000, was the lowest of the three received by the Zylstras.
The large discrepancy between Ruff-Hall and Watson lies within the wall of the basement in the home. Ruff-Hall said they could seal over the crack in the concrete blocks.
Walton said the blocks are not concrete but rather cinder, a much lighter block which could not support a home when cracked and severely damaged by a fire.
Allstate then brought in a civil engineer James C. Druecker who recommended inserting steel buttresses or reinforced pilasters along the foundation wall. Druecker also stated in report issued to Allstate, the Zylstras and Milford Township that the blocks are concrete.
The Zylstras hired Gilmore and Associates who said the walls area 8-inch thick cinder block and need to be brought into conformance with the BOCA code which allows for nothing less than a 12-inch thick concrete block foundation. The Allentown Road home predates the code but must be brought to standards id reconstructed.
Township code enforcement officer Chris Walls said he received copies of both engineering reports but only Gilmore’s was signed and sealed.
Reports sent to the township by Ruff-Hall and Druecker did not include detailed plans for repairs but rather only a cost assessment and a statement about how they would fix the house. Walls said he was unfamiliar with every part involved except the homeowners and Gilmore and Associates.
After surveying the home, Wall said his educated guess left him to believe the walls were made of cinder block not concrete.
However, Allstate has stuck with its contractor and engineer even though there is a definite dispute among the monetary figures.
Debora said, "I’m so sorry I was a nice person and accepted Ruff-Hall. I would have done things differently if we knew Allstate would care about the people we bring in."
Allstate industry relations manager Andrew Howell said it is not company policy to rebuild a home which is structurally sound.
"We realize this has been devastating for these folks but we feel the house is repairable," Howell said. "We have a fundamental difference."
John Zylstra can’t understand why Allstate refuses to accept responsibility for the state the home is in.
"Every other contractor we spoke with said the basement walls would have to be rebuilt," John said. "I don’t care if the home is not rebuilt I just want it fixed correctly."
They said we were under no obligation to go with Ruff-Hall but all the work we had done by other contractors hasn’t meant a thing," John added. "Ruff-Hall must be the god of all builders."
Debora said, "We thought we had everything taken care of. We made sure that if anything happened, our policy would cover us. It hasn’t."
