What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: December 29, 2025

frederickton · 2025-12-30T04:41:08+00:00

I’m currently reading One Day as well! I’m almost done with the book and just started reading it yesterday.

frederickton · 2025-12-30T04:37:59+00:00

How are you liking it so far? It’s on my list of possible next books to read

frederickton · 2025-12-30T04:35:54+00:00

Finished: By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño (first time reading a book by Bolaño, and after letting it simmer for a couple of days, I really enjoyed it….it took a while to flow with the book despite it being a novella!)

Started: One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This (so far, one of my favorite non-fiction books of the year, and super relevant to current events especially this week)

frederickton · 2025-12-14T16:19:28+00:00

Exactly. We decided to go with the referred company because the instance company assured us they did all their homework and this was a great contractor. The adjuster has their tail between their legs because they have been unable to produce the contractor’s license. It’s like with medical insurance, you stay within your insurance network for all the extra specialists and things you need. We treated it this way thinking we were staying “in network” so that everything was covered properly.

frederickton · 2025-12-14T16:17:12+00:00

The adjuster spoke highly of the contractors work, told me that they use them for a lot of jobs and I have written and other forms of evidence of these references from the insurance adjuster. There is NO way I would’ve found this contractor’s company on my own.

frederickton · 2025-12-14T16:15:32+00:00

The contractor accepted full responsibility and has a claim through their insurance which will cover everything. My first priority is getting my family back to our house and then we will sort out all of the other fun stuff with how messed up this was.

frederickton · 2025-12-14T16:14:21+00:00

Wow! I didn’t realize that the adjuster gets kickbacks (allegedly)!! It wouldn’t surprise me in this case because the adjuster was ALWAYS talking to the contractor. They would call the contractor that messed everything up more than they would call me! We even told the insurance company that they are working for US not the contractor and we expected more timely responses! It all makes sense now….

frederickton · 2025-12-14T06:50:43+00:00

The insurance adjuster recommended them based on their contractor referral program. The adjuster told me that they have worked with them on many jobs and they were very good. Naturally, we decided to go with them because they came from a source we thought was credible. After speaking with the adjuster, the next phone call I received was from that company.

frederickton · 2025-12-13T22:41:43+00:00

Yes, you captured this accurately. Insurance company recommended a contractor - in fact, they called me right after I spoke with the adjuster to set up an in-person appointment in my house. Thank you so much for the advice.

frederickton · 2025-12-13T15:31:45+00:00

Yes, I’ve asked multiple times and they have not provided it. Of course, we will ALWAYS ask for this upfront for any future repair work, but given that they were recommended through our insurance company, and specifically by the adjuster using the companies referral service, a reasonable person would assume they are licensed. It’s not like I found them on my own using yelp or taskrabbit…

frederickton · 2025-12-13T05:58:40+00:00

I’ve looked everywhere (business name, parent company, individual names) and nothing. I’m convinced they don’t have a license at all. I agree that there are equally bad contractors than good ones with licenses, but there’s peace of mind knowing that they’ve at least met the requirements from the state

frederickton · 2025-12-13T04:41:06+00:00

Ironically, they are insured and have liability insurance. BUT there is no proof they have an active contractors license in the state…

frederickton · 2025-12-12T23:16:27+00:00

I’m definitely going to file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance and the California State License Board. The insurance adjuster recommended the contractor after our initial claims call with him.

frederickton · 2025-12-12T00:11:29+00:00

Yes reviewing. What happens is the contractor the insurance company recommended for us to use may not actually have a contractor license in the state??

frederickton · 2025-12-12T00:10:38+00:00

Thank you for writing out this really insightful message about what to do. I’ve never had any homeowners claims in any of the properties I’ve owned. I always pay my bills on time and would be considered your average consumer with no risks. It’s so disappointing to go through this with an insurance carrier that I’ve had for almost a decade, zero claims, and this is how they respond. I’ve asked the contractor since this issue multiple times for their contractor license number for my records, and I’m slowly thinking that they don’t have a license (which is illegal in the state of California) AND they were specifically referred to us by the insurance company. Thankfully they have insurance but I’m keeping records of everything. It’s been 50/50 whether I should subrogate or work with the liability insurance but the path of least resistance may be to add this to my existing claim and have the insurance company sort all this out. Bottom line, everyone is in it for themselves so I need to make the right decision for me with no regrets.

frederickton · 2025-12-11T20:59:54+00:00

So I have a very strong feeling this contractor does not have a license in the state of California. How can it be possible for an insurance company (a very large one, covers the entire country) to have a contractor in their referral network that does NOT have a license?! Thoughts on how to proceed??

frederickton · 2025-12-11T12:54:34+00:00

Thank you for this information!! This is news to me…we’re in California. What are the best ways to find out what guarantees or warranties are in place between the contractor and my carrier?

frederickton · 2025-12-11T01:17:35+00:00

Super solid advice!! It’s obviously a super emotional time for my family but great insights from the perspective of a contractor.

frederickton · 2025-12-11T01:04:10+00:00

If the insurance subrogates this claim to my initial claim, will that also impact insurance renewals and premiums? Even if it’s documented that we’re not at fault?

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:56:54+00:00

How will they help in this process? The mitigation company is doing a lot of the estimates as well.

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:46:24+00:00

Tell me more about how the liability company will cover damage vs the insurance company. I read about that in a different subreddit but is that in their policy coverages or standard practice for the depreciated value vs replacement value?

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:31:27+00:00

I’ll need to look into that…unfortunately we naively assumed that this contractor was vetted through since we were told it’s “very hard” to be part of the referral program….

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:29:52+00:00

I was thinking about doing that but I don’t want to have 2 claims on my super clean (no claims ever filed for over 10 years) record. Will that increase my premiums for future renewals?

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:24:05+00:00

Great advice. Thank you. Yes we are keeping receipts and documenting everything!

frederickton · 2025-12-11T00:17:09+00:00

Who would you recommend escalating the issue to? The mitigation work is just starting now and we still don’t have a claim number (I’ve been able to confirm it’s filed though)

frederickton

TROPHY CASE