Public adjuster for Wayne County property owners

Pre-1940 Detroit frame

Plaster and lath, wood windows, original service. Carriers depreciate these heavily and lean on pre-existing condition — both are answerable with the right documentation, and both go unanswered when nobody pushes.

Vacancy and vandalism

Scrapping, theft of copper and mechanicals, malicious mischief. The dispute is usually the vacancy clause and how many consecutive days the property sat — a factual question, not a judgment call.

Historic and high-value

The Grosse Pointes, Indian Village, Boston-Edison, Palmer Woods. Slate, clay tile, copper, leaded glass, and plaster millwork — specialty trades that generic price-list entries do not cover.

Downriver and combined sewer

Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Ecorse, River Rouge. Basement flooding events arrive by the thousand at once, which is when carriers process fastest and scope thinnest.

Fire & smoke

Water & sewer backup

Vandalism & theft

Wind & hail roof

The property was between tenants when it was damaged. Am I covered?

Possibly, and this is the central Wayne County coverage fight. Vacancy provisions typically require a specific number of consecutive days of vacancy, and vacant is not the same as unoccupied — a furnished house between tenants is often unoccupied rather than vacant. It is a factual question answered with dates, utility records, and lease documents, not a judgment call.

My house is from 1925. The carrier says the damage is pre-existing.

Age gets used against Wayne County property owners more than anywhere else in the region. Plaster and lath, wood windows, and original service do depreciate, but depreciation is a calculation with a basis, and pre-existing condition is a claim that requires evidence. Both are answerable when someone documents the actual condition rather than accepting a characterization.

I am Downriver and the sewer backed up again.

Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, Ecorse, and River Rouge sit on combined systems that surcharge in heavy rain. Repeat events raise two issues: whether this loss is separately covered, and whether the carrier will argue the condition was known and therefore expected. Documenting each event as a discrete occurrence is what keeps the second argument from taking hold.

My home is in a historic district. Does that affect the claim?

It can substantially. Indian Village, Boston-Edison, Palmer Woods, and the Grosse Pointe districts carry review requirements that constrain materials and methods, which is ordinance-and-law territory. If the district will not let you replace leaded glass or slate with a modern substitute, the cost of complying is part of the loss and needs to be priced as such.