Alpha-Boss May Kiss My Sub-Floor

Last Friday, after the most maddening phone call I had in a long time, I got angry. Alpha-Boss pushed me beyond my good nature.

Hell hath no wrath like a public relations professional scorned. I drafted a letter to the Alabama Board of Insurance and another to Alpha-Boss's home office. I bandied around phrases like "standard of care." I explained Alpha-Boss NEVER said he wouldn't cover the flooring because it wasn't an insurable item. Instead, he had magically read Wayward's mind, knowing she wanted the ugly tile underneath the former carpet as her floor covering of choice.

I kept my letter professional, steering clear of Alpha Adjuster's God Complex and other unbelievably inappropriate personality quirks. Keeping with my crusade, Legal Eagle also gave me the name of an attorney who handles this kind of nonsense. Carolsue (who also happens to be a paralegal--and worked for this guy at one time) tells me this new attorney is tough. According to Carolsue, you would rather meet God at final judgement than this dude.

This morning I called my insurance agent and discussed with her what I was planning on doing. I explained my logic: simply there was no reason not to cover the missing flooring. I was going to start with a letter writing campaign to anyone who would listen to me and see what that accomplished. If necessary, I would pay this new attorney $300 to write a letter, on his letter head, explaining why I have been damaged and how the insurance company should fix it.

In my conversation with my agent, I asked her for a reality check: was my request to have the flooring covered as part of the insurance out of line? We discussed a few other things too--like the amount of time this claim has taken and the loss of rent that has come from the ineptitude of Alpha and his boss.

In truth, by the time I had called my agent this morning, I really had given this up as a lost cause. I had been noodling whether I wanted to spend the rest of the week fighting over the cost of flooring or if I wanted to let it go. After all, I can fight over principle and just spend my money and time, gaining nothing. Or, I can just get the flooring replaced and move on.

But, before I had to make this decision, I got an e-mail from Lana. It said: I have spoken with Alpha-Boss regarding your carpet and loss of rent. They will write a supplement estimate for the carpet. If the repairs go past the month of Sept, they will pro-rate the loss of rent.

I may have lost Friday's battle. But I won this war.