Picking Up The Pieces After A Devastating House Fire

At 3:15 a.m. on March 3, a friend called Theresa Kiernan to deliver one of the most devastating pieces of news a person could receive.

Her home was on fire.

Ms. Kiernan and her mother, Ann LaWall, were in Naples, Florida, staying at a condominium Ms. LaWall had rented. Recently Ms. LaWall recalled the moment her daughter took the call.

“She looks me straight in the eye … and says, ‘Mom, the house is on fire,’” Ms. LaWall said of the home she had owned for 40 years at 5 Seven Ponds Road in Water Mill.

Four weeks later, the mother and daughter are already well into the process of rebuilding their lives, which Ms. LaWall credited to three things: a strong family, strong faith, and a good insurance policy.

“I’m happy to say that I listened to my insurance broker and I took the policy that they suggested for me. Even if you think it’s too much—you never know,” she explained. And there was nothing that I couldn’t do by phone.”

The first step she took was to communicate with her insurance broker, the Southampton-based Morley Agency Inc., to go over what her homeowner's insurance policy did and did not cover. Luckily for her, she had a hefty plan through the Narragansett Bay Insurance Company that essentially covered all her losses, something she strongly advised others to do.

The insurance company initially offered to find a hotel for the women, covered under the policy, but Ms. LaWall declined, as the lease for the condo in Naples didn’t expire until March 31, and Ms. Kiernan was able to stay at a friend's home on the South Fork.

Instead, Ms. LaWall reached out to three real estate brokers and asked them to find a rental where she and her daughter could live for a year, which her insurance also covered. Through FaceTime, she was able to see and approve from Florida a house they found in Shinnecock Hills.

Next, Ms. LaWall hired an architect and builders to draw up plans to replace what was left of her home at the corner of David Whites Lane and Seven Ponds Road. Now back on the South Fork, Ms. Kiernan, who serves as tax receiver for Southampton Town, worked on securing a permit to demolish the old house. “It wasn’t easy. Even though I work at Town Hall, I don’t know the process,” she said. “You find out these funny little intricacies.”

But before the demo permit could be granted, the town fire marshals needed to investigate what had caused the fire. The investigation has not been finalized, but Ms. Kiernan said the cause may have been an electrical problem or a faulty furnace. She and her sister, Kristen, met with the insurance adjusters and the fire marshals.

Next will come itemizing what had been in the house. Ms. LaWall said her policy included contents insurance, which covers the cost of replacing all the clothes, furniture and other items up to a certain dollar amount. That will require sitting down with her insurance broker as well as walking through every room of the house and trying to remember what was there. Ms. LaWall lost an expensive painting and jewelry she had purchased during a vacation in Italy, but noted that, after all, those things too were just "stuff."

"You have to do deal with the fact that everything you own in the world, from your underwear to your most expensive piece of jewelry, is over. It’s a striking reality, I do have to say. You have to cope with that," she said. "But in the long run, it’s all replaceable."

According to Alison Schmidt, vice president of personal insurance at Cook Maran & Associates in Southampton Village, it's a good idea for homeowners to stay abreast of what their insurance policy covers—many are not aware, for instance, that flood insurance is not included in regular homeowner’s policies.

“What I always recommend is, sit down with your broker, and if you have not spoken with your broker in a while, you want to have a conversation with them about what’s covered," Ms. Schmidt said. "So at least you don’t have a surprise after a claim, because after a claim, it’s too late—you cannot change your policy after a claim.”

Ms. LaWall admitted that her circumstances may not be the same as for others who lose their home in a fire, but she emphasized that a positive attitude and a desire to move forward, paired with a good insurance policy, will help anyone get through what can be a very stressful process.

“You have to really depend on your insurance, and on your friends and your family and your faith. And that’s all there really is," she said. "If God brings you to it, he’ll bring you’ll through it. It’s going to be a new start. It’s going to be bigger and better than ever.”

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