07 — Do pets and school count, and how do I avoid claim scams?

A comparable place to live is a place where the household can still be the household. That includes the animals that already slept in the house and the children who already had a school. It does not include a shopping trip. This chapter holds those two ideas next to a third: after a fire or a storm, people will knock, and some of them will be selling something you should not buy on the porch.

Pets are comparability, not an upgrade

If the dog lived with you, asking for housing that will take the dog is a request to keep a normal standard of living. It is not a request for a luxury. III’s consumer writing on Additional Living Expense lists pet boarding among the extra costs that can appear when a hotel will not take animals. Boarding for a weekend may be the right tool. Boarding for a six-month rebuild is a long way from “home.” A furnished pet-friendly house in the same metro is often the calmer comparable — if the claim professional agrees it fits the file.

Tell the adjuster the truth about the animals on day one: how many, what kind, whether any is a service animal. Tell the housing contact the same truth. Do not hide a second dog until move-in day. Do not add a new puppy “because we are already displaced.” New animals are a new household, not the one on the policy.

Jubilee homes are pet-friendly because the families we house come with pets. That is a housing fact. Whether pet deposits, boarding, or extra cleaning are reimbursable is a file fact. Ask.

School is comparability, not a better district

Children do better when the temporary address still reaches the campus they already attend, or at least the same district without a new life. That is why, when we match a Dallas–Fort Worth home, we ask for the city or area first, not for a wish list of amenities. Staying near school, near the job, and near the damaged house (the contractor will have questions) is how a “normal standard of living” looks on a calendar. Moving a child to a campus you had been curious about is a different project, and it does not belong on an ALE request.

If the only available comparable home is two suburbs over, say so to the adjuster and to the school. Districts have displaced-student practices; we are not the school district. We can try to hold a home in the area you name. We cannot promise a particular campus.

We are housing only

Jubilee Homes does not repair roofs, pack out contents, negotiate dwelling coverage, or stand in as a public insurance adjuster. We will not tell the carrier we represent you on the claim. We will not file the claim for you. We will not “handle insurance.” If a sentence on a website or in a text sounds like we are doing those things, it is a mistake; this library is the rule. Coverage decisions belong to the claim professional. Repair decisions belong to you, your contractor, and the desk. Our chapter is a furnished, pet-friendly Dallas–Fort Worth home for as long as the repairs take, and the librarian’s desk that points you at TDI and 2-1-1.

What TDI wants you to know about contractors

The Texas Department of Insurance does not license building contractors. It does license insurance adjusters, and it has watched what happens in a storm-damaged driveway. Read their pages rather than trusting a flyer:

• New state law cracks down on roof scams
• Roofing and insurance: know the law
• Public adjusters: what to know before you hire one

TDI’s scam-avoidance list is short and worth following in the yard: get written estimates on company letterhead; get more than one bid; check references and phone numbers; beware of people who only have out-of-town references or who solicit door to door; do not pay in full up front and do not make the final payment until the job is done; never sign a contract with blanks. If a contractor offers to waive or rebate your deductible, TDI says that is illegal to offer. Report it to the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-621-0508. TDI also notes that it does not regulate contractors; the Attorney General is the complaint door for that.

Texas law does not let a contractor act as a public insurance adjuster on the same job they are repairing, or advertise that they will handle the insurance claim. TDI’s examples of improper language include offering to negotiate the settlement, promising they can recover the entire claim, and telling others they represent the policyholder on coverage. If you hear those sentences from a roofer, walk inside and call your claim professional.

If you feel pressured or threatened, TDI says to call the police.

What TDI wants you to know about public insurance adjusters

You are not required to hire a public insurance adjuster. TDI is clear about that. If you choose to, they are licensed by TDI, they work for you rather than the company, and they charge a fee — TDI says they can charge up to 10% of the total amount the company will pay, not just the disputed slice, and you might still owe the fee even if the offer does not increase. You have 72 hours after signing to cancel. They cannot act as your contractor, cannot keep you from talking to your insurance company, cannot practice law, and cannot wear a badge as if they were the state. They should not knock during a natural disaster or after 9 p.m. asking for business.

Call TDI at 800-252-3439 to learn whether a public adjuster is licensed, whether complaints have been filed, and whether TDI has taken action. Look them up through TDI’s agent and adjuster lookup. Read the whole of TDI’s page before you sign.

Jubilee is not that profession. If we ever sounded like it, we were wrong. If someone at the door says they are “with housing and insurance,” ask which license they hold and call the number on your claim correspondence, not the number on their shirt.

Claim numbers, again

Do not give the claim number to a door-knocker so they can “check coverage.” Do not post it. The people who need it already have a way to get it: you, the carrier, or a provider the desk has agreed to speak with. Chapter 2 said this; after a storm it is worth saying twice.

If something feels like fraud involving an insurance person, TDI’s Help Line is 800-252-3439, and TDI has a complaint process. If it is a contractor taking deposits and disappearing, it is the Attorney General at 800-621-0508.

When the house is close to livable, Chapter 8 is how to end a stay without surprising the desk or the landlord.