Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2007 > September > 22 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.US“When patience runs thin”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The cell phone rang while he was on Lake Lanier with his son and a fishing guide.
His wife was calling.
Their house in Norcross - the one they’d lived in nearly 50 years - was on fire.
“She knew we’d paid for a fishing guide, so she said I might as well keep fishing,” Nathaniel Brown said. “The firefighters were there. Nothing I could have done, anyway.”
I’ve been to the brick ranch on Autry Street a few times to interview Brown, a retired civil rights activist in his mid-70s. When it comes to Norcross, the county, its people, he’s a living history. Conversations can stretch into hours. Stories flow, some easier for him to recall than others.
I’d tried to contact him a few weeks ago. We’d talked about going fishing - “wettin’ a hook,” as my pops would say - many times, but never got around to it. Perhaps, I thought, I could mix work with pleasure, turn a fishing trip into a Badie Tour and write about it.
Imagine the headline: “Sage and student go fishing.” Sweet.
When I called Brown, though, I got a recording. The number, it stated, had been disconnected. Odd. I tried a couple more times to make certain that I’d dialed right.
Same result.
Brown called me last week. He sounded tired, fed up, put out.
His home is uninhabitable. He and his wife are living with a daughter in Duluth. They have filed a claim with Allstate, their insurance carrier. But three months and 16 days after the June 7 fire, their house is still in ruins, and they’re wondering if they’re in good hands.
“It’s been really strange,” he told me. “Every time you talk to them, they tell you something different.”
On Friday morning, I met Brown at his daughters’s house and we drove over to the old stead. On the way, he pointed out houses, who’d lived there, what they did and what had happened to them. Stories.
At the house, we stood in the kitchen and he showed me the possible origins of the electrical fire. The house has been stripped to its foundation. Insurance adjusters have collected what’s salvageable - clothes, furniture and such. If possible, those items are to be cleaned, repaired and returned to the family. Insurance coverage initially paid for enough clothes to last 30 days; some clothes that have been cleaned have been returned to the family.
Brown had wanted to build or move somewhere else, but he gave in to the emotional tug of his wife and kids. So the house will be rebuilt. When is unclear. Hammer and nails aren’t flying at 489 Autry Street.
Matt Hunter is the Allstate structure adjuster assigned to the Brown case. I called to see what’s going on, if something on Brown’s end had delayed the project. He told me a company spokeswoman would get back to me. Renita Ward called on Friday. She told me that Brown’s claim was a bit more complicated because his house is located in a historic district. It has to be rebuilt on standards that typically don’t apply.
“It’s moving forward,” she told me.
Generally, after the homeowner files all the proper paperwork, it takes about 60 days to repair a typical house, according to the office of John Oxendine, the state insurance commissioner’s office.
Remember Village Place subdivision?
Three children started a fire that torched four houses in the Loganville neighborhood. Those homes were rebuilt in 60 days, thanks to Loganville-based Meridian Homes and the homeowners’ insurance coverage.
Brown has contacted Oxendine’s office. He’s been a patient man, and in this world that’s a good thing, regardless of whether you’re dealing with a fire tragedy or trying to land a few striped bass.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By Laura
September 24, 2007 2:09 PM | Link to this
I don’t know if it’s the particular insurance company or just insurance in general these days. I have friends with similar problems with Allstate. They don’t live in a historic neighborhood. But at the rate Allstate is tending to the problem, the neighborhood might very well be historic by the time the house is rebuilt.
By Chuck
September 24, 2007 3:02 PM | Link to this
From what I know of Norcross, Nathaniel doesn’t live in the National Historic District. And if he did the architectual review only pertains to new construction and residential rehab. A fire repair, if he is putting it back the way it was should be a simple process through the review. I know the developers are getting through quickly. I woudl agree with Laura and take a closer look at the insurance company.
By ron
September 24, 2007 4:35 PM | Link to this
Insurance companies deny as many claims as their attorneys can handle.They never run out of patience.They're banking on you doing that.{pun intended.}