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"Insurance companies can and do go broke. Perhaps you are a bit naive and believe companies are not "designed" to make money."
Actually Peter, what I said was that the insurance companies ARE designed to make money...no naivety here. The part I disagreed with was "Insurance is designed to make the insured whole after a loss." While that may indeed be the "design", how often does it actually happen? Insurance can help to offset losses, but I can't think of a single case where anyone was made "whole" again. Maybe you can, but I think it is far more common that the insurance companies use every available loophole in their policies to limit their payout.
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HNN says "$1.8 million in damage by destroying several businesses and at least four apartment units"
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/34268...g-in-pahoa
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And you have to take into account inventory and equiptment in those businesses and dwellings.
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Sal is a good businessman. What the fire insurance rates might have been on an ancient deteriorated wood row building is hard to guess. I will assume he is under insured.
I have worked in disaster recoveries before and found insurance companies smile when taking your checks and send in the lawyers when you have a claim. Sal's insurance battle could take a couple years and get consumed by lawyers. I hope I'm wrong.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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I hope you're wrong too Rob, but I anticipate participating in fundraisers to help Sal and the community recover.
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Sal's insurance battle could take a couple years... I hope I'm wrong.
As noted, the building is old, probably with decades of what realtors call "deferred maintenance." The equipment is used and even if completely functional, unless it's insured for replacement value, the insurance company will nickle and dime him for every stove, fryer, and cash register, asking for receipts and depreciation schedules in an attempt to only pay out "actual used resale value." What the scrap dealer would pay.
I hope he has a very good insurance policy, with a very good insurance company. If Sal's lucky they may be fair in their assessments if for no other reason than Luquin's is a high profile policy holder, and the claims adjusters might look at their valuations as company goodwill. That is, word will get around their insurance company treated Sal fair and square, gaining them more business in the long run.
Edited to add:
People like eating at Luquin's. The community will miss the restaurant while it's closed. If their insurance company delays the rebuilding and reopening, people will find out soon enough who's to blame.
"Only fear real things, such as minds full of delusions." -Last Aphorisms
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Liberty Mutual initially denied all my claims from Iselle and played hardball for almost 6 months before eventually giving me more than I had originally asked for! So you just never know how it will all play out. Let's hope Sal has an understanding agent.
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No matter what the insurance pays, the cost of replacing a grandfathered building will be high. For starters, Pahoa has no sewage treatment facilities and they cannot continue to use the existing cesspool.
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I wonder what the statistics are for rebuilding after an event like this - I mean I wonder how many businesses rebuild and how many cut their losses and walk away? If it happened to me, at my age, I'd probably walk away. I'm guessing younger owners are more likely to rebuild?
That said, we don't know what we're going to do without our trusty Luquin's. We went there frequently. IMO none of the other Mexican places are remotely as good and they had the best damn breakfast around. I hope to see Luquin's in business again.
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quote:
Originally posted by DTisme
I wonder what the statistics are for rebuilding after an event like this - I mean I wonder how many businesses rebuild and how many cut their losses and walk away? If it happened to me, at my age, I'd probably walk away. I'm guessing younger owners are more likely to rebuild?
That said, we don't know what we're going to do without our trusty Luquin's. We went there frequently. IMO none of the other Mexican places are remotely as good and they had the best damn breakfast around. I hope to see Luquin's in business again.
It isn't just Sal though, he employed a lot of his family and the long time workers were clearly hanai family and had been there for years. I talked to some of them the next day when I went into Pahoa to check it out. To say they were devastated is an understatement. Wait people especially get virtually nothing from unemployment, these were good jobs for Puna, and now they have no jobs at all, even worse, some have no home and all their stuff went up in smoke too.
The heartlessness of some people here on PW is staggering, one suggesting it is "all for the best" and another jerk implying that the fire was a deliberate act to get out from under the building, with no evidence at all. I just don't understand why certain individuals here on PW always react to a disaster by assuming the worst about people they don't even know.
