Fashion Board 2-3-04 to 3-5-04

[Fugee]

For years my extended family blithely ignored what I did. I do a couple favors and BOOM!, I'm the consigliere.

During a nasty snowstorm here a couple weeks ago, my aunt and uncle totalled their car. It's 6 years old but loaded with lower than average miles and tires that were 6 days old at the time of the accident. Adjuster gives them a number that is 25% below blue book and says that's the value here. Not surprisingly, he's calling them daily to get them to agree to their offer.

Any good tips on how to make the adjuster prove the value he's putting on the car or otherwise increase his offer?

Oh, and my sister told me their homeowners insurance company sent out a guy to do a outside "field inspection" on their house. Despite the fact that all the houses here, including hers, have at least 10 inches of snow on the entire roof, they decide that she needs to have a new roof installed before June 29 or their will drop their coverage. Can they do that?

ETA: I just looked at the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce web site and apparently they in fact can cancel or not renew homeowners' insurance if the condition of your home increases the risks of damage and you don't make the demanded repairs. I'd still like to know how they decided the roof was bad under a foot of snow coverage.