Claudia Sheehy and her son, Ciaran, moved home at Grand Lake, NS, three years ago.
With a half hectare of land overlooking the lake, a park a short distance and a nearby farm where he expected his son to take riding lessons one day, he had his mapey future.
“It’s simply beautiful here,” Sheehy said. “If you could see the sunsets, the view is only in the water, [the great] Neighbors, it’s all that I would like a small child to grow. “
But the Postopical storm Fiona in September 2022 started part of the roof of his house in the Halifax area. That launched a chain of events that has kept the family of two outside their home due to problems with the insurance claim, while Sheehy has accumulated approximately $ 60,000 in debt with credit card to stay afloat.
She said her insurer, Allstate, has not paid her for articles such as life expenses and the cost of emergency repairs since December 2022. That total is now more than $ 100,000.
Sheehy and his son, now four, have lived mainly on Airbnbs and hotels from the storm.
When it rains or snow, the water pools inside the house. When CBC News recently visited the house, the signs of water damage were visible with a dark discoloration at all times and a smell of mold.
The stress of experience has affected Sheehy’s health. He was out of work for a year with a medical license. She said she still fights with anxiety and depression.
“I feel that I have lost the last years with my son because … he has only moved us and trying to do it, instead of building a life together,” he said through tears.
After Fiona, a company installed coating and an ice/water shield to avoid more home damage, but Sheehy said the water continued to enter the house every time it rained.
But another powerful storm in November 2022 started parts of the ceiling again. Temporary repairs were carried out on the roof and to prevent a wall from collapsing.
The company that had been making repairs for the first job, which was recommended by Allstate, stopped doing the job.
Sheehy was told that she would have to find a company to do the job. But he had problems obtaining appointments, partly due to how occupied companies were making repairs after Fiona.
Permanent repairs have not been made due to a disagreement about how much repairs should cost, Sheehy said.
An estimate of repairing a company that was a preferred supplier of Allstate said that repairs to fix the damage of the two storms would cost around $ 74,000, Sheehy said, while the appointments he obtained obtained more than $ 300,000.
With every day that passes, she believes that the house will need to be demolished and rebuilt.
Frustrated by his experience, Sheehy presented an appeal before the town’s town in December 2022. Six weeks later, he received an email in return saying that the steps to cover the damage “have been identified and will be addressed.”
Lawsuit
Sheehy hired a lawyer and sued Allstate at the Supreme Court of Nueva Scotia in September 2023.
“This is a horrible case,” said Barry Mason, Sheehy’s lawyer. “He is one of the worst that I have seen in more than 30 years of practice and has had a devastating impact on Claudia, who has been incredibly patient, and his family, and returning home.”
In a statement, Allstate said he has high standards for customer service and that he has been in regular contact with Sheehy.
“Throughout the claims process, we have continued to honor the terms of the client insurance policy. We hope to resolve the client’s claim while we work with them through the stages of the claims process,” he said.
Legal action has effectively stopped because Allstate invoked something under the provincial insurance law known as the evaluation clause.
This happens when two parts do not agree on the value of a claim, so each hires a appraiser to determine the value of the claim. If the two appraisers do not agree, a part known as referee and the amount they determine is final.
Mason said this process places the insured at a disadvantage.
On the one hand, Sheehy will have to pay the services of a appraiser, which could cost at least $ 8,000. If the referee must solve the matter, Sheehy would have to pay half. Mason said a referee could cost around $ 10,000.
Sheehy said her appraiser presented information to Allstate last December. She said the company’s appraiser visited her home last September, but has not presented anything since then.
Once the insurance claim is resolved, Mason said the legal action will resume.
“Insurance companies have the obligation to quickly deal with claims like this and help their insured to process the claim,” said Mason. “In our opinion, Claudia failed in that regard.”
Mason said they will seek statements of bad faith to cover things as punitive damage (money that an insurer pays as punishment for being unfair) and aggravated damage (money that an insurer pays for being unfair and causing the insured emotional anguish).
Allstate said he could not discuss legal procedures.
Sheehy said the test has changed it.
“I am not the type of person who cries,” he said through tears. “I am not the type of person who stops in the negative or suffers from depression or anxiety. I make plans for the future, so the move here had incredible plans.
“And now we are what, three years later, and I am five steps back instead of being where it should be.”
