On Friday, the Rialto Apartments and the retail shops on the first floor remained evacuated after concerns over the structural integrity surfaced Thursday morning. It’s left hundreds of people looking for other places to stay. “We’re in complete limbo,” said Ross Ruppel.He and his family don’t know when or if they’ll be able to return to their apartment. Right now they’re staying in a hotel. Ruppel does have renters’ insurance “Allegedly,” he said. Ruppel said he filed a claim right away. But said he was told the insurance company will need more information on the cause to know what they’ll cover. “So right now I am completely at risk for all of the expenses that I’m out right now, they said we need the engineer’s report, we need the absolute final cause of this to trigger your coverage,” he said of his conversation with his insurance provider.Even when the cause is determined, he may not be covered. “She even said you’d better hope it’s a sinkhole. You’re covered for that,” Ruppel said. “That was … that was … sorry. Just the glibness of it was really, like, really hard.”Other Rialto residents, like Bill, who didn’t want to share his last name, said their insurance has stepped in to cover some things. “Arranged for accommodation, hotel accommodation. We’re happy with that, but we are waiting to see what’s going to happen,” he said. Bill said he doesn’t know what they’ll cover if this is long-term. “That is exactly our concern and our worry,” Bill said. Tanya Rodriques, owner of Evolve Insurance Group in Maitland, said coverage varies policy to policy. Some cover loss of use of your unit, and lay out a specific dollar amount. “That’s the amount of coverage that you would have to pay for, you know, an Airbnb, a hotel or maybe to rent another unit until yours is ready to move in,” she said.As far as what types of events would be covered, she said your policy lays that out too. Ruppel shared his policy with WESH 2. It says that while it would cover collapse, for example, it says a building that is standing isn’t considered to be in a state of collapse even if it shows evidence of cracking, bulging, sagging, bending, etc. It says it would cover a volcanic eruption, but not water damage. His coverage will all hinge on the determined cause. It seemed hard for him to be hopeful. “I just don’t feel like I’m going to win in this situation, I feel like I’m going to take a major financial hit and it’s going to affect my family for a long time,” Ruppel said. Rodriques encouraged people who are displaced to keep their receipts and go over their renters’ policy carefully.
On Friday, the Rialto Apartments and the retail shops on the first floor remained evacuated after concerns over the structural integrity surfaced Thursday morning.
It’s left hundreds of people looking for other places to stay.
“We’re in complete limbo,” said Ross Ruppel.
He and his family don’t know when or if they’ll be able to return to their apartment. Right now they’re staying in a hotel.
Ruppel does have renters’ insurance
“Allegedly,” he said.
Ruppel said he filed a claim right away. But said he was told the insurance company will need more information on the cause to know what they’ll cover.
“So right now I am completely at risk for all of the expenses that I’m out right now, they said we need the engineer’s report, we need the absolute final cause of this to trigger your coverage,” he said of his conversation with his insurance provider.
Even when the cause is determined, he may not be covered.
“She even said you’d better hope it’s a sinkhole. You’re covered for that,” Ruppel said. “That was … that was … sorry. Just the glibness of it was really, like, really hard.”
Other Rialto residents, like Bill, who didn’t want to share his last name, said their insurance has stepped in to cover some things.
“Arranged for accommodation, hotel accommodation. We’re happy with that, but we are waiting to see what’s going to happen,” he said.
Bill said he doesn’t know what they’ll cover if this is long-term.
“That is exactly our concern and our worry,” Bill said.
Tanya Rodriques, owner of Evolve Insurance Group in Maitland, said coverage varies policy to policy. Some cover loss of use of your unit, and lay out a specific dollar amount.
“That’s the amount of coverage that you would have to pay for, you know, an Airbnb, a hotel or maybe to rent another unit until yours is ready to move in,” she said.
As far as what types of events would be covered, she said your policy lays that out too.
Ruppel shared his policy with WESH 2. It says that while it would cover collapse, for example, it says a building that is standing isn’t considered to be in a state of collapse even if it shows evidence of cracking, bulging, sagging, bending, etc.
It says it would cover a volcanic eruption, but not water damage.
His coverage will all hinge on the determined cause. It seemed hard for him to be hopeful.
“I just don’t feel like I’m going to win in this situation, I feel like I’m going to take a major financial hit and it’s going to affect my family for a long time,” Ruppel said.
Rodriques encouraged people who are displaced to keep their receipts and go over their renters’ policy carefully.
Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.