We’re back, and it’s time to get down to business with your mortgage company and your insurance check. We’re continuing from Part 1, where we left off discussing what happens when you get your insurance claim check.

Do you have Bank of America, or is your mortgage with another major national bank that has branches everywhere? Many times these banks will endorse checks under $10,000 at any branch, with no, or few, questions asked.

Chase will typically endorse checks in-branch under $20,000, but will follow up on the status of repairs to make sure they’ve been completed. If a significant period of time has gone by and you haven’t kept in touch with them, they may revoke this privilege in the future.

What if your claim is larger than $10-20,000? Surely your contractor will want to get paid something to get started. Then what?

It depends on how your claim was paid.

If your claim was paid fairly in one or two payments, or through a supplement, the payment typically came with a loss statement and corresponding estimate from the insurance company. Your mortgage company will likely request this to know what areas of the home was damaged, or what areas are/might be affected by repairs.

This is where things tend to vary. Some mortgage companies will make a down payment to a contractor on your behalf with required paperwork from the contractor. Others will want you to get the ball rolling and reimburse you.

We don’t want to skip steps in the explanation here, but this is where things are highly varied from company to company. Whatever they want to do next, we’ll consult with you, and/or your contractor and figure out the best way to respond.

Keep in mind, though, that the repairs you perform in YOUR house are up to your discretion. If you want to upgrade your home, you’re entitled to do so. If you want to only repaint the damaged room, despite continuous painting, or break up a continuous floor, that’s your choice.

The mortgage company’s inspection is less rigorous than the insurance company’s and they want to make sure no glaring or visible damage remains outstanding.

We DO want to be up front though, that if the repairs get carried away beyond the insurance claim or you’re doing upgrades, our fees are still owed, even if the insurance company disburses every dime of the insurance proceeds to the contractor. This is sometimes an outcome in this business.

Lastly, if you decide that you don’t want to deal with your mortgage company, there are services out there that will work for you to obtain the mortgage company’s endorsement and eliminate the headache. There are smaller fees associated with this, but many of our client’s have found this service to be priceless. We’ve found the moth success with, and highly recommend https://iink.biz/ if that’s a route you’re interested in.

If you find yourself stuck and these situations don’t apply to you, feel free to contact us, or call today for a free claim evaluation.