SPOKANE, Wash. – Nearly one month after their home was destroyed in the Oregon Road Fire, one Elk family is still searching for help, and answers, as they battle with their insurance company.
“Reality strikes, and that help is not coming,” Brendan Monahan said. “It took about three weeks for an insurance adjuster to show up and look at the damage.”
KHQ first met Brendan Monahan on August 22, 2023 – just days after his home was destroyed when the Oregon Road Fire ripped through Elk. On that Tuesday in August, Monahan said he was speaking like a zombie, his emotions still so raw from the chaotic hours of evacuation and heartbreak that preceded him.
Now, his tone has changed from shock to disappointment.
“I thought there would be resources that would be helpful, but that’s not the situation,” Monahan said. “I haven’t been up there as much, I had to unplug.”
Unplugging from the sight of his property, that’s no more; his home is still gone, nothing but rubble and ash is left. Power, water, all of the necessities still have not been reinstalled.
The only improvement for Monahan is now, he has a shipping container on his property to hold any valuables that survived the flames.
Fortunately, he and his family have been able to stay at a friend’s house in Spokane, that is currently up for sale.
“There are people out there who have it way worse than me,” he said.
Monahan said the financial help that the Elk community was hoping for, praying for, has not come knocking.
“Jay Inslee requested $2,000,000 for the firefighters who fought the fire,” Monahan said. “But I’m thinking, maybe allocating funds to people burned out of their existence, homes, livelihood, would be something to consider.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Gray Fire and the Oregon Road Fire. According to FEMA, these grants do not provide assistance to individual home or business owners, and do not cover other infrastructure damage caused by the fire.
For real people, like Monahan, this was a harsh plunge into reality.
His house and body shop were listed on Zillow for $425,000 – but his American Modern Insurance policy had not been updated to match this. Meaning, his coverage is far less than his home and body shop’s estimated value. Specifically, Monahan’s policy is only covering $130,000 of the $425,000.
“Insurance is the one thing we never want to use, we want to have it but we never want to have to use it,” Office of Insurance Commissioner Senior Policy Advisor David Forte said.
David Forte is the senior policy advisor for Washington’s Insurance Commissioner.
Forte recommends the very first thing people should do when checking in on their insurance, is to get a complete copy of their policy, including endorsements and declaration pages. He also encourages consumers to keep notes of any conversations they have with their insurance company regarding damage and their policy.
If the time does come when you need to use your insurance coverage – and your company isn’t giving you what you want – Forte said to ask for answers.
“Make them document it, make them put it in writing of why they are eliminating, excluding, or doing something different than what you are asking for,” Forte said.
As for Monahan, who is receiving $295,000 less in insurance coverage than his home’s estimated value, Forte said there are not many options he can turn to.
“He could seek some professional help, to review the policy with him, to see what other available coverages there are,” Forte said. “But for the actual structure, it’s going to be limited to what the policy says is the limit of liability.”
Monahan said if anyone can find a silver lining in all this tragedy, from the Gray Fire to the Oregon Road Fire, it’s to check your insurance policy right away.
“It matters,” he said.
