I was very pleased with the quick and personal attention I received on the two cases I assigned to the firm. Everyone was very knowledgeable and made it easy to reach my goal of a fair and adequate claim settlement.
Challenge
Higgins & Associates was hired by an insurance adjuster to help ascertain the cause and origin of a structure fire that damaged a large home in the mountains of Colorado. Due to complications in the claims process, the fire occurred over a year before the investigation could take place which added to the complexity of the analysis. Higgins & Associates was asked to determine the extent of structural damage caused by the fire and prepare repair recommendations and costings to restore the building to pre-loss condition.
Approach
After investigating the cause and extent of the damage to the building, Higgins & Associates developed a comprehensive set of repairs that adhered to the current International Building Code. Twenty-three important repair recommendations were prepared for the owners, remediation contractor, and insurance adjuster. During the evaluation of the damage, we discovered a number of critical life-safety conditions due to non-compliant original construction. Additional repair recommendations were developed to bring the repaired building into compliance with current building code and assure the future safety of the structure.
Results
With our help, the building was able to be restored to a safe and compliant condition while minimizing the overall cost to the carrier and homeowner. Higgins & Associates also provided guidance to the remediation contractor on appropriate means and methods to facilitate the completion of cost effective code compliant repairs.
