Public adjusters in Fenton, Michigan.
An EF2 tornado damaged about 250 homes and buildings in Fenton on August 24, 2007. In Fenton Township, home to 19 lakes, the median owner-occupied home is now worth $354,800, and larger homes, lakefront properties and long contents lists all raise what a loss here costs to put right.
AdjustFair works only for the policyholder, from our office on Flushing Road, about 16 miles north of Fenton. We read the policy, document the full loss, price the repair the way a contractor would have to build it, and put that number in front of the insurance company with the proof behind it.
Where claims here get underpaid.
In the City of Fenton and Fenton Township, three kinds of loss do the most damage, and each has a familiar way of being underpaid.
- Tornado and tree damage to the structure. The 2007 tornado tore roofs off homes and municipal buildings and partly collapsed a large retail building near Owen Road and US 23. On an impact claim the insurance company often writes the roof and the stained ceiling and declines to open the walls, where cracked framing and wet insulation hide. Those missing line items are what decide the number.
- Fire in downtown businesses. On June 28, 2022 a fire that started in a dumpster near Adelaide and Mill Street spread to a car and across a parking lot, affecting four buildings in downtown Fenton, and the fire chief said two businesses would have to be rebuilt. A business owner's claim reaches past the walls to fixtures, equipment, stock and, where the policy includes it, the income lost while the doors are closed. Each is valued on its own, and the pieces missing from the first estimate rarely get added until someone proves them.
- Fire and contents in larger homes. Fenton Township is about 92 percent owner-occupied, and homes at a $354,800 median usually carry better finishes and more belongings than an estimate assumes. Estimates on these homes often swap in builder-grade materials, and contents on a big house get undercounted room by room. A full inventory and a contractor-grade scope are how that gap gets closed.
An offer of $84,559, and the appraisal that nearly doubled it.
A house fire in an older Mid-Michigan home. Documented with DocuSketch and resolved at appraisal, with interest for the time the claim took.
Questions we get here.
We close our Fenton lake house for the winter. Is a burst pipe covered?
It can be, but it depends on the policy. Many policies exclude freeze damage while a home is vacant or unoccupied, except where the owner kept the heat on or shut off the water and emptied the lines. Keep furnace service and heating records, and if a pipe does burst, get the plumber's written cause before cleanup starts.
Do older homes in the City of Fenton get estimated differently?
They should. About a third of the city's homes were built before 1960, and plaster walls, older trim and original plumbing cost more to restore than the drywall and stock materials most estimates are written in. The same is true when an upstairs tub or toilet overflows and soaks a plaster ceiling below. We document what is actually in the house, line by line, and price the repair that way.
How long does it take to reach Fenton?
Fenton is about 16 miles south of our Greater Flint office on Flushing Road, and we cover the city, Fenton Township and the lakes around them. Call (810) 617-2222 and you will reach someone who can explain what to do first and set a time for an adjuster to see the damage.
Nearby
See every community we cover from our Greater Flint office on Flushing Road.
Let's find out where |your claim stands.
Tell us what happened and we'll tell you honestly what your policy covers and what we would do next. It costs nothing to ask.
