00:02 [Music]
00:14 welcome back to another episode of the
00:16 Auto Accident Attorneys podcast i'm your
00:18 host Attorney Ali and it is sponsored by
00:21 the Auto Accident Attorneys Group we
00:24 take care of you today we have returning
00:28 guests attorney Rishi Patney Patney Law
00:32 Group and attorney Holly Cole of the
00:36 AutoAcconent Attorneys Group welcome
00:38 back guys thank you for having us good
00:40 to be back i just realized reviewing
00:42 some of the prior podcast I tend to
00:45 pause because I growing up I I used to
00:48 say um a lot and so in in an effort to
00:51 stop saying um I would just stop but
00:53 listening to the podcast I realized I
00:55 speak like this robotically i also
00:59 didn't know that about you growing up
01:00 that's funny yeah i was also very shy
01:02 did you know that i did know that yeah
01:05 that's why I did standup comedy to get
01:06 out of my show wow that was like really
01:08 late in life i know better late than
01:11 never I suppose well you got the perfect
01:13 podcast voice for like AI
01:16 AI that's a good one yeah you can't tell
01:19 if it's me or AI i guess the listeners
01:21 will never know
01:23 well guys I appreciate you coming back
01:25 again today so that we can review
01:29 homeowners insurance policies again
01:31 we're not technically going to review
01:32 any policy but just going over
01:34 homeowners insurance um we do a lot of
01:37 auto stuff and if you guys remember if
01:40 you watched part one of this episodes I
01:43 guess this is technically part two it's
01:44 on a different day but my 11-year-old
01:49 flooded the master bathroom uh she
01:52 wanted to draw herself a bath started
01:54 filling up the filling up the bathtub uh
01:57 it was taking a long time so she decided
01:59 to go lay down for a minute and wait for
02:01 it to fill up she falls asleep
02:04 completely so this thing runs for 90
02:07 minutes fills up floods the entire
02:10 bathroom the master bath is above the
02:12 garage so the garage ceiling comes
02:14 tumbling down and the garage is flooded
02:18 and to date this is down two weeks ago
02:22 to date we are still dealing with the
02:24 well the drying is done but they're
02:27 doing some mold remediation work that
02:29 time the homeowners a review of
02:31 homeowners insurance policies would be
02:33 would be fun one thing I've learned
02:36 through this process is uh what was it
02:40 called Rishi endorsements endorsements
02:43 so just how in auto accident policies
02:47 we're talking about collision coverage
02:49 comprehensive coverage uninsured
02:51 motorist for homeowners policies there
02:54 are end various endorsements and I had
02:57 never looked at homeowners policies
02:58 before it's because with with homeowners
03:00 you've got various types of things to
03:03 protect against you're you're protecting
03:05 an asset right versus um with auto there
03:09 there's a lot of um you know liability
03:11 is pretty much the same across you know
03:13 every state you know what what makes you
03:15 liable for for things with the with your
03:18 car um you know there may be different
03:20 ways that you are liable but the
03:22 indemnity provision runs the same the
03:25 difference is when you've got homeowners
03:27 the policies the premiums are based on
03:29 the types of risks for damage to the
03:31 property each one of those risks are are
03:34 unique and have their own category of
03:36 you know how how they formulate
03:37 financially the premium that that you
03:40 that you end up paying and that really
03:42 depends on where in a big factor where
03:45 you live um specifically geographically
03:48 and naturally what types of of hazards
03:50 you're going to encounter so you know we
03:52 we're not likely to have um roof
03:54 collapses from snow in Georgia we just
03:57 don't get that kind of snow though you
03:59 know our policies don't you know they
04:00 may have coverage um for that in a
04:03 different state you know with the same
04:05 insurer their standard policy in like
04:07 say Alaska or Washington state Colorado
04:09 might have that kind of coverage they
04:11 don't have to have that coverage in in
04:13 Georgia so they they may exclude it
04:15 unless you want to have you know
04:17 specific risks that are you know outside
04:19 of your your normal Georgia exclusion
04:21 that you want to insure for and that
04:23 that's why they do it by endorsement as
04:25 far as endorsements go if if you want to
04:27 prepare
04:28 You know on this podcast we like to take
04:31 care of people we give them information
04:33 as far as endorsements go if you're
04:35 looking at policies ahead of time what
04:37 sorts of things are you taking into
04:39 consideration and what endorsements do
04:41 you look at ahead of time before you
04:44 need a policy so so this is where a
04:48 having a good insurance broker a
04:50 knowledgeable and and vetted insurance
04:52 broker really does help because most
04:54 consumers they don't um they can't
04:57 foresee all the various risks but a a
05:00 broker that's been um helping people in
05:03 that community get policies has seen the
05:05 various types of risks that that people
05:07 insure against and um and and they're
05:09 pretty well verssed on what are the
05:11 classic risks that we have to have um
05:13 that that banks require certain
05:15 coverages for and and and banks are
05:18 pretty good um because your home is
05:21 their security for your mortgage um
05:23 they're going to make sure that when
05:24 they have an insurance requirement
05:26 they're going to require that you insure
05:27 it for those various risks that keep
05:29 their security asset safe so that's a
05:32 good point if you have a a a buddy who's
05:34 an insurance broker in Colorado they may
05:37 not be as helpful to tell you what to
05:39 look out for then somebody in Georgia if
05:42 you're if you live in Georgia right
05:44 because they have seen what sorts of
05:46 claims have been made in the prior year
05:49 prior two years they're just more
05:51 accustomed to to sure what to look out
05:53 for yeah in that sense it's always
05:55 better to have u you can always get
05:57 advice from from people outside um and
05:59 then and they can walk you through the
06:00 process but when it's actually when it
06:02 comes to selecting the types of
06:03 endorsement that you want on your
06:04 homeowner's policy it's it's definitely
06:06 good to to consult with someone that's
06:08 been doing it locally for a while i
06:10 wanted to piggyback off of this topic
06:12 because Rishi said something that's
06:14 applicable across the board across
06:15 industries and that's consulting with
06:17 somebody who has seen all sorts of
06:19 situations and they can speak
06:21 knowledgeably about that topic and I
06:23 think that kind of applies also to what
06:25 we do um in personal injury when you you
06:30 could probably DIY your case for example
06:33 but it's invaluable to have somebody on
06:35 your team who has seen all sorts of
06:38 situations play out and they know how to
06:40 handle it and that's you know and I
06:42 think it's funny as attorneys I'm sure
06:44 we get questions from friends and family
06:46 all the time about it runs the gamut
06:48 right like criminal law employment law
06:52 and things like that and there's a
06:55 handful of things that we've learned in
06:56 school and throughout life but we're not
06:58 experts in those areas and even as
06:60 attorneys ourselves we will hire other
07:02 attorneys in other fields because they
07:05 have seen okay practically how do
07:08 situations play out how many times did
07:11 you guys realize this as soon as you got
07:12 into law school uh within that first
07:14 year you start getting calls from
07:17 friends that are describing a a Friday
07:20 night drunken um you know situation
07:23 somebody somebody gets arrested oh this
07:25 was this was every single weekend and I
07:28 would get calls from Atlanta while I'm
07:29 in law school and it's friends that or
07:32 or um you know friends of relatives um
07:35 you know hi Richishy I'm your brother's
07:36 friend and uh and we were out on Friday
07:39 night and everyone was cool but there
07:41 was just this one police officer and the
07:43 situation got out of control and then
07:45 somebody you know drunkenly said
07:46 something and they tried to run and um
07:49 so what do we do now now now he's in
07:51 jail and and you're in law school and
07:52 I'm like unless it deals with contract
07:55 101 and I'm still I'm still trying to
07:57 wrap my head around the rule against
07:59 perpetuities I can't help you what is
08:02 consideration exactly you're like well I
08:05 I don't know about the arrest but if an
08:08 interest does not pass in a person's
08:10 lifetime
08:13 Yeah you're working on civil procedure
08:14 you guys are right i do remember getting
08:16 calls um one specifically said "Uh well
08:21 they asked me how much the fine is for a
08:24 speeding ticket." I was like "I don't
08:26 know." He's like "Well you're going to
08:27 law school what are you going to law
08:28 school for?" Yeah exactly they're
08:30 teaching us in law school that's some
08:32 attorney you're going to be
08:35 but to take it back to entrance if you
08:38 were to ask a friend who is an insurance
08:40 broker in Colorado well how do I deal
08:42 with I don't know something that we deal
08:44 with in Georgia that they wouldn't know
08:46 about if they don't know the answer it
08:48 doesn't mean they're bad insurance
08:49 broker it just means hey I haven't dealt
08:52 with this this isn't my specialty you
08:54 should probably find somebody in your
08:56 area for sure yeah no it's interesting
08:59 the more I learn about our own specialty
09:03 for example you because you said we hire
09:06 other attorneys i've never paid for more
09:08 attorneys in my life than like the last
09:11 two years for different than not not
09:14 because of just criminal defense but
09:17 but as even as a Vista seller you start
09:19 learning the value of of other other
09:21 people's expertise and relying on that
09:24 um and that has value when you're when
09:25 you're looking at it's a decision that
09:27 you don't have to you know there's
09:30 there's a lot more reassurance and
09:32 comfort in making a decision as a
09:33 business owner when it's informed by
09:35 people that um have knowledge specific
09:37 knowledge in that area um you you're
09:39 just more confident in the decisions
09:40 that you're making as a home as a
09:42 business owner absolutely even on our
09:44 cases cases that you and I are currently
09:46 working on together setting up estates
09:50 right you know it's we're not going to
09:53 do that in house we We could exactly i
09:57 mean is is it possible to go through all
09:60 the work and teach yourself you know
10:01 that area of law sure i mean it it's
10:03 possible but it detracts so much from
10:06 your daily operations for this one
10:08 specific project it it it makes economic
10:10 sense to use outside counsel or separate
10:13 counsel that that you associate for that
10:15 one aspect of a case such as setting up
10:17 estates and tying in when you said
10:21 people that have experience for example
10:23 it's all legal work we could do the
10:24 legal work but some little nuance or
10:26 wrinkle comes up like somebody's
10:29 relative is incarcerated or somebody's
10:32 relative is in uh another country and
10:34 you can't deal with it well that would
10:36 be the first or let's say even third
10:37 time we're looking at it but when
10:40 somebody does this for a living they see
10:42 it they go day in and day out they
10:44 already know what to expect ahead of
10:46 that so it's worth every penny i guess
10:48 we we give a shout out to Burke Johnson
10:50 over at Lutter Larkin there we go Burke
10:53 you're fantastic
10:55 shout out
10:58 tying it back into homeowners insurance
11:01 uh because I I do want listeners to to
11:04 get something out of this and and
11:05 hopefully review their policies the way
11:06 I I ask people to review their auto
11:08 policies go ahead and review your
11:10 homeowners policies as well uh I think
11:13 probably in Georgia the biggest thing
11:16 anyone's going to deal with is water
11:18 intrusion now ours was based off of I
11:22 guess we could call it user
11:23 error and by user error I mean I had an
11:26 error in having children i'm just
11:28 kidding sweetheart i love you very much
11:30 i don't know she gave me a hard time at
11:31 dinner last night i think I think that's
11:34 it's a little Yeah she'll appreciate it
11:36 when she's older hopefully it's a
11:39 valuable lesson don't mess with people
11:41 that have a platform
11:44 amen water
11:46 intrusion from from exterior water
11:49 intrusion uh one thing that I learned
11:53 was that if it depends on how the water
11:57 is coming in if it if it was a in auto
12:00 accidents we talk about acute trauma so
12:03 if the injury happened because of the
12:04 accident well if the leak happens
12:07 because of an a specific cause like a
12:10 storm that like blows the shingles off
12:12 or or creates an uh holes and water
12:15 comes in that's covered the the
12:18 replacement of the the product the
12:20 shingles the roof as well as the damage
12:22 that it causes but if it's a maintenance
12:25 issue like if there happens to be a hole
12:28 in your wall
12:30 or a chronic condition on your roof that
12:33 leads to a leak the water damage will be
12:37 covered by your homeowner's policy but
12:40 that replacement or fixing the material
12:44 will not be wow i thought that was
12:47 really interesting
12:49 well don't leave us on edge what
12:51 happened with your policy oh
12:54 well our leak was starting from inside
12:57 so everything is covered okay
12:59 everything's covered um which it's kind
13:02 of crazy to think about that an
13:05 11year-old has got Oh by the way it is
13:08 so much more expensive than I thought it
13:11 would ever be oh to replace a bathroom
13:15 oh you have to replace the whole
13:17 bathroom yeah because the whole floor
13:20 has to go but it's probably because
13:22 because you've compromised all of the
13:23 the floor joists and everything the
13:25 subfloor everything you had custom
13:27 vanities you had everything was down to
13:30 the detail
13:31 custom what's the replacement value of
13:34 that standard or That's what we're
13:37 waiting to see right now we had an
13:39 adjuster come by and review everything
13:43 um
13:44 the remediation company has their own
13:47 contractor and they gave a quote of what
13:50 it would cost to rebuild now there was
13:53 one difference we had marble floors and
13:55 they're going to replace it with
13:57 porcelain i don't know how I feel about
13:59 that yet but I'm trying not to even I've
14:01 got enough to think about just on this
14:04 platform so I'm leaving it up to to
14:06 Jamie to figure out what she wants to do
14:08 with that but they gave their estimate
14:10 to the adjuster and the adjuster is
14:12 going to come up with his own estimate
14:15 i'm sure he is i I asked I was like
14:18 "Well if we what happens if we decide
14:21 that we don't want to use this
14:23 particular contractor we get another
14:25 contractor and that contractor comes by
14:27 and says "Oh well they had it all
14:28 wrong." you're you're actually getting
14:30 into exactly where the vast majority of
14:32 of people's litigation um you know when
14:35 it comes to their homeowners policy and
14:38 um and it's always the uh the part
14:41 where you you've suffered a loss um to
14:44 to the insured property and uh and it is
14:47 always this back and forth between what
14:50 is the value of restoring and and what
14:52 you know there's always a disconnect
14:54 between what insurers are willing to pay
14:56 for repair and remediation versus what
14:59 the homeowner wants um and and a big
15:01 part of this is knowing what your policy
15:04 says about when you have to act um if if
15:08 you decide if your homeowner uh if your
15:11 insurance either decides that this is
15:14 not a covered event and and you disagree
15:16 or we're not we're not covering the full
15:19 amount of of this loss and you believe
15:21 that more should be covered there's
15:23 things that um that you're still on the
15:24 hope for that they're saying is not
15:26 covered um so a this is where a lot of
15:29 um when people get sideways with their
15:31 insurer and and there's a claim for the
15:34 way that they've adjusted it something
15:36 that is really critical for you to know
15:39 as a as a policy holder is what your
15:41 policy says about when you know when you
15:44 are allowed to sue the insurance company
15:47 your insurance company for um a a
15:50 dispute over coverage under that policy
15:54 um and it's basically they're called
15:56 exculpulpatory provisions and they vary
15:59 drastically from policy to policy so in
16:02 the few homeowner um claims that I've
16:04 had I've seen ones that say from the
16:07 time that the loss occurs you have one
16:10 year from that date of the loss to bring
16:13 suit against us which means we can
16:14 continue to negotiate back and forth but
16:16 that date is not waved and so you can
16:20 think that you're negotiating with your
16:21 insurer and they're they're moving a
16:23 little bit you're moving a little bit
16:24 you're trying to come to a consensus and
16:26 the time for you to actually file suit
16:29 can expire during that and um and then
16:32 you realize you've lost all leverage um
16:35 you you have to accept you have to
16:37 accept whatever they give you because
16:39 you don't have the ability to sue them
16:40 over um a dispute over the contract so
16:42 knowing what your insurance policy says
16:44 in terms of exculpatory provisions it's
16:46 um it's it critically important to know
16:50 when you have to act and when you have
16:52 to consult with an attorney because
16:53 you're you're kind of at odds with your
16:55 insurer on a covered claim so they're
16:57 essentially setting their own statute of
16:58 limitations by contract absolutely and
17:01 and Georgia does enforce them what's the
17:05 shortest timeline you've seen um one
17:07 year 12 months 12 months from the date
17:10 you got tired yeah oh I'm not worried
17:14 about myself that was information did
17:16 you think I can go 12 months without my
17:20 Toto that I miss the Toto so much and
17:23 I'm so mad that I didn't install one
17:25 downstairs is Is that the uh the the
17:27 Japanese toilet with the bedet it does
17:30 everything what it's got a blow dryer
17:33 what it's got a warmer that That is
17:35 That's That's how you know Japan is
17:37 playing chess when we're playing
17:38 checkers
17:39 i mean 100% to toilet technology is a a
17:42 sign of it's all downhill after that i
17:45 mean we're at the we're living in the
17:48 golden years of toilet technology i got
17:51 to tell you when I when I walk into the
17:54 office bathroom and like I'll see the
17:56 the toilet lid up just in my mind I'm
17:59 just
18:02 like I'm like what what are we the
18:04 Flintstones this is this is ridiculous
18:08 so univilized
18:10 and and to use a cold toilet to sit on
18:13 oh my goodness for real in the winter
18:15 and then having to touch now we have a
18:17 button on the back of of the one in the
18:20 office but even having to touch it it's
18:22 I think it's a Neo Rest oh I don't
18:24 remember the number there was a point in
18:26 time where I knew all the stats where
18:28 when you when you approach it's got a
18:30 sensor and it will lift the lid and then
18:33 it will it's got a light on the inside
18:35 so if you go at night you can see where
18:37 you're going and then it gives you like
18:38 a little it's not a courtesy flush it's
18:40 a courtesy spray out of the bedet
18:42 portion so there's like a little bit of
18:44 like moving water and then you sit down
18:47 all it needs is like a little slide out
18:50 with like a magazine or I guess these
18:52 these days people don't read magazines
18:53 but you know yeah
18:55 but pull out your iPad i don't like
18:57 tablet exactly give you some
18:58 entertainment while you're here for the
18:60 next hour during winter uh you can find
19:03 Ju Guu sitting on it she's not even
19:06 using the restroom just It's warm so she
19:08 likes to sit on it and you could control
19:10 the temperature so she turns it up but I
19:13 don't know how we got ended up being a
19:15 Toto commercial exculpatory clauses ex
19:18 yeah i it's a big problem for for
19:21 homeowners that that find out that the
19:24 time for them to actually bring suit
19:25 when when they're in a disagreement over
19:27 what's what's covered um yeah that that
19:30 exculpatory provision has caused a lot
19:32 of headaches for homeowners because it
19:34 was something they didn't pay attention
19:36 to and and for most homeowners the only
19:39 time that you've ever thought to look at
19:41 your policy all the way through is when
19:43 you first receive it you receive a PDF
19:45 that's like 40 pages or 50 or 60 pages
19:48 um from your broker and all you care
19:49 about is what do I have to pay what's my
19:52 premium right and um and ultimately so
19:55 and that's at the very very front uh
19:57 that that's on the first like five pages
19:59 um all of the terms and conditions and
20:01 all the various exclusions that comes
20:03 much deeper into the policy and so if
20:05 you haven't flipped through it uh you
20:06 could be in for a rude awakening when
20:08 it's time to actually consult that yeah
20:10 it's always when you're actually going
20:12 to use the policy the language the
20:15 escape language that lets the insurance
20:17 company off the hook or if I guess to
20:21 have hear them frame it they'll probably
20:22 say "Well that's not a a covered loss."
20:25 It's always buried absolutely in in that
20:28 fine print strategic and they usually do
20:31 them in like uh they're like columns
20:33 right yeah it's one or two or three
20:36 columns on each page and you got to go
20:38 through and like the sections are on
20:39 different pages it's even as an attorney
20:42 I hate reading those things yeah reading
20:44 headings are very helpful and
20:46 understanding in in any contract that
20:49 there's going to be boilerplate language
20:51 it's pretty standard stuff nothing that
20:53 you're probably going to be concerned
20:54 with but there's always those specific
20:56 clauses the specific sections paragraphs
20:59 that you want to look out for so just
21:01 just skim if there's a table of contents
21:03 or headings skim those find the one that
21:06 sounds like it might be the one to screw
21:08 you and then read that
21:11 which in all likelihood is all of the
21:14 clauses well if it's insurance probably
21:16 the the way that they're written um they
21:18 have a broad coverage provision then
21:21 they have all of these exclusions and
21:23 then they have exceptions to the
21:24 exclusions and then they have exceptions
21:26 to the exceptions to the exclusions and
21:28 so try and trying to weed through that
21:30 yeah i mean you have to literally
21:32 diagram it out i mean I I've there are
21:35 times when I'm trying to figure out
21:36 whether or not um a certain client's
21:39 loss is covered and whether or not it
21:41 falls within exclusion you're actually
21:42 drawing it out and saying "Okay so the
21:44 policy covers this." You start off with
21:46 one and by the end of it it looks like a
21:47 beautiful mind like you got sketches all
21:49 over the wall
21:51 lines drawn all over the place i'm You
21:54 said beautiful mind in my brain I always
21:56 I'm thinking of the uh always sunny in
21:58 Philadelphia fact is I was thinking the
22:00 red lines it's exactly that easy i like
22:04 to imagine that on the insurance company
22:05 side because I'm like surely it's not
22:07 that confusing for them it's like just a
22:09 list no no yes they want they want to
22:13 give the illusion that no no no we're
22:15 going to offer this to you but if you
22:17 look at the exception to the exception
22:19 to the exception this actually isn't
22:21 covered yeah what was interesting about
22:23 the adjuster that came by um I was
22:26 talking to him and I had a ton of
22:27 questions first of all how dare you
22:31 he laughed he asked if I was an attorney
22:33 and I I explained it to him and he
22:35 laughed he's like "My brother's a
22:36 personal injury attorney." I was like
22:38 "Oh that's interesting i want the two of
22:41 you to come on to the podcast and have a
22:43 discussion but I'm I'm really curious i
22:46 guess now that we're having this
22:47 conversation I'm going to have a part
22:49 three to see how this actually resolves
22:52 cuz I'm really curious to see what this
22:54 guy approves yeah me too on on the
22:58 replacement cost thing this is like its
23:00 own series in itself yeah I believe that
23:04 we're framing it in such a way where
23:07 listeners hopefully get something out of
23:09 it and if they heed the advice go and
23:13 and look on the front end and check your
23:16 own policies and and see where your your
23:19 coverage may be lacking you think you'll
23:21 still get All State or State Farm to
23:22 sponsor this podcast
23:25 we may have that ship may have sailed
23:27 long ago when you started with series
23:29 one yeah actually I'm pretty sure uh for
23:33 All State specifically it was when I
23:35 lost my temper on a recorded phone call
23:38 at an adjuster
23:40 who hasn't done that uh they're quite
23:43 not quite as bad as progressive where uh
23:47 had some choice words that involved uh
23:49 recommending that somebody do something
23:51 volitionally with a bat sack full of um
23:54 male genitalia
23:58 you told someone to eat a pack of dicks
24:05 i wonder if that makes it in the podcast
24:11 i did i did see fighting zealously for
24:16 your clients over here sometimes it's
24:18 it's just it's so unreasonable you can't
24:21 help it you're like "Oh you want to be
24:23 professional." And obviously they're
24:24 just doing their job even though their
24:26 their job is is the devil's work and
24:30 they they've just they've drank the
24:32 Kool-Aid but uh certain days um are
24:36 worse than others i have shorter views
24:38 on certain days and he caught me on the
24:40 right one that day i had time
24:43 way to go Voldemort Mutual Insurance
24:46 Company there you go yeah rishi let's uh
24:50 talk about real quick what obtaining an
24:53 attorney looks like for a homeowner's
24:55 policy so on the auto side we have
24:57 contingency right right so what's it
25:00 look like for somebody that may be
25:02 listening right now and they've got an
25:05 issue where they think that their claim
25:07 is being wrongfully denied so it it
25:09 comes up quite often because this is
25:11 where um even for attorneys that do
25:13 contingency fee work plaintiff's work um
25:16 it is hard to do it um to have that same
25:19 fee structure when it comes to homeowner
25:20 claims because you've got um you you
25:23 don't have the types of damages that are
25:25 are kind of open to you know the jury's
25:28 discretion right they're when it comes
25:30 to property it's pretty kind of black
25:32 and white they're all what you know what
25:34 I like to call invoiceable damages
25:35 something that you've got a receipt for
25:37 quantifiable exactly and th those
25:40 pecuniary losses are you know those are
25:42 actual monetary losses that are the cost
25:45 of repair the cost of remediation the
25:47 cost of you know temp you know and then
25:50 all the consequential or incidental
25:51 things that come as a result um you know
25:53 having to move into a hotel for a while
25:55 um having to replace clothes things like
25:57 that all of those it's kind of like you
25:59 know when when you've got a car accident
26:00 you're getting your car repaired you
26:01 know how how long are you going to cover
26:03 the rental and there's limitations on
26:05 that even in your homeowner's policy
26:07 well there's similar types of
26:09 limitations but at the end of the day
26:11 the recovery is still for the value of
26:13 the asset and so when you do a
26:15 contingency fee on something like that
26:17 the homeowner is almost guaranteed to
26:19 never be be made whole and so it often
26:22 has to be done on an hourly basis and
26:24 and and you know you try and be as
26:26 reasonable as possible understanding
26:27 that that folks are trying to just to
26:30 just get recover from their insure an
26:32 amount to replace the the asset and if
26:36 they you know at some point it becomes a
26:37 pure victory if if you've paid the same
26:39 amount in attorney's fees right the
26:42 reason contingency fee doesn't work is
26:44 because you're saying win or the award
26:48 is the amount of the property damage
26:50 exactly so if you build in let's call it
26:54 a 30% contingency fee on on the award
26:57 now the homeowner is left with not
26:60 enough money to replace the property
27:01 damage after after an absolute win their
27:04 best day is only recovering 70% of the
27:06 value right there are exceptions i mean
27:08 there's times when um you know you can
27:10 get if there's a bad faith component to
27:12 it um and and you've got um you know an
27:16 attorney's fee or fee shifting um now
27:19 that of course that has changed a little
27:20 bit with tort reform and and you're very
27:22 limited into in how attorney's fees can
27:25 be recovered but um you know I don't
27:27 think tor reform has evviscerated all
27:29 contractual damage like attorney fee
27:31 recovery uh provisions and there there
27:34 is an exclusion for contractual um fee
27:37 shifting where you know if if attorney's
27:40 fees are recoverable so that's something
27:42 else that you want to check your policy
27:43 for to make sure that they don't have a
27:45 provision in there that excludes that i
27:47 I imagine post tort reform it might be
27:50 something you'll start seeing in Georgia
27:51 homeowner policies i wonder how many
27:54 insurance policies will permit loser
27:56 pays yes
27:60 exactly i am curious uh to see what
28:03 happens with our bathroom i do miss the
28:06 Toto i really appreciate both of you
28:09 joining me today and talking through
28:11 this hopefully the listeners got
28:13 something don't forget to follow each of
28:15 us on social media
28:17 uh we'll put the tags on the comments
28:21 section because I don't remember
28:22 everyone's handles i do remember that
28:24 I'm attorney Ali that's easy vishi um
28:28 Richishy Patney go ahead Holly it's
28:31 Holly Galately but the spelling's
28:33 different check the description box
28:38 smash that like button hit the subscribe
28:40 all of that rishi's going to take over
28:43 yes everything Rishi just said i
28:45 appreciate you guys take care thanks so
28:48 much