Landlord in need of help dealing with my insurance company for "loss of rental" income?

[roche]

I own a small 4 unit rental property and had a break & enter into one of the units. At the time of the break in the unit was vacant however I had brand new furniture, & building materials at the site because it was in the process of being renovated. I had 2 thefts occur within a short time period (within a week) and police were called, witnesses saw everything, the cops even KNEW who did it but couldn't do anything since they did find any of the stolen goods on him. That being said I've had a terrible time getting my insurance company to pay me for damages. Its been a back and forth struggle. They have finally agreed to pay for the stolen hardwood, but refused to cover any furniture / other personal belongings seeing as they are not covered in my policy. But what IS covered is any belongings that are part of the property itself (which is why the hardwood is being covered). I also have a clause that stipulates I am to be paid for any loss incurred due to a claim (in this case a theft) for up to a maximum of a year or $30,000. They have just now offered me payment for the claim now 8 months later! and after arguing with them are only willing to pay up to 2 weeks loss of income ($600). Is there anything else I can do or say that will help me? Should I go to court? They are arguing that they are only willing to cover 2 weeks rent because thats how long it would have taken me to order new hardwood had I placed the order the very day after being robbed. That doesnt sound reasonable to me? I didn't even have the money available to make the purchase. Isn't it insurances obligation to pay for that? Someone with knowledge of how these things work please help me!

Thankyou in advance. Oh and by the way, I'm from Canada. Ontario. If it matters.

Thanks!

[christie42]

In the states, we have what is know as the Department of Insurance. Check to see if your area might have something like that

[lintun]

At the time of the theft, the unit was vacant. You were not receiving any rent for it. As such, there is no loss of rental income incurred.

You have a duty to mitigate your damage. That means, not make it worse. Therefore, you should have purchased new materials and continued on with the repairs and then rented the unit out (if possible).

You did not have to wait for the insurance check. You chose to wait for the insurance check. Therefore, the insurance company does not owe you for the 8 months you waited to complete the repairs.

The 2 weeks loss of rent they have offered you is more than you are entitled too.

If you did not have contents coverage on your policy then there is nothing they can do for your furniture etc. You did not purchase the appropriate coverage. There is nothing to argue here.

And since the hardwoods floors were not installed - they were not part of the structure. They should have been considered contents - same as the furniture and that claim denied. Many policies will exclude building materials when a property is vacant.

Sounds like they cut you a break by even paying you for the hardwood floor materials.

[gustav]

No judge in the world is going to award you loss of rental income (most policies also cover loss of potential rental income) for eight months. It doesn't take eight months to order new hardwood flooring and install it, and saying you didn't have the money is hardly believable considering you were receiving income from three other units all this time (if you're also renting the other units for the same amount of $300/week then that means for 32 weeks: 300 * 32 = 9600 9600 * 3 = $28,800 in rental income you received from the other units). You are always free to sue your insurer, however you have a very steep hill to climb.