BY SANDI AUSTIN

Contributing Writer

Janet McClelland was making fun of herself when she said, “I have a wonderful memory – it just doesn’t last very long.” But when the conversation turned to last summer’s July 20 hailstorm, she remembered every detail — from the devastation to her Arvada home to her months-long battle with her insurance company. She was asleep when the storm hit that evening with 140 mph winds, rain and golf-ball-sized hail. Her cat went under the bed while she ran to shut the open windows. “It sounded like World War II. All I could hear was loud banging noises,” she said. The next morning, the damage to her Rainbow Ridge neighborhood home of 11 years was clearly visible. Concrete tiles on the roof were broken. Wood siding on the upper part of the twostory home was in splinters. The brick on the lower part of the home had pockmarks. The hail left large dents in the wood deck and fence. Although the home suffered obvious extreme damage, the first adjuster who came out gave an estimate of only $1,900. Dissatisfied with that amount, she had photos taken of the damage and took them to her insurance agent. A second adjuster then came out and, according to her, seemed to be in a hurry to leave. “They were just going to paint over the wood siding the way it was,” McClelland said. “No sanding or anything. My son was an industrial arts teacher, and he said they can’t do that.” A second estimate of $7,500 sounded better with one exception – there was no mention of the roof damage. At this point, she didn’t know what to do next. Along came ARI Construction of Wheat Ridge with a promise to act on her behalf in challenging the Insurance company’s inadequate estimates. Photos were documented and an estimate of the total repair cost was taken to the insurance agent. The insurance company continued to deny a full claim, leaving out roof, deck and fence damage. “All they wanted to do was paint, and I thought to myself, ‘Well, I can paint!” McClelland said. “If they weren’t going to pay anything, why did I need insurance in the first place?” “If the insurance company denies claims, and we still believe there’s damage, we’ll go to bat for you,” said Diane Tyler, co-owner of ARI Construction. Diane went on to explain that they will go to the appraisal stage for their clients, if need be. A district judge will pick a neutral party to do a claims estimate. “We didn’t get to that point, though, in Janet’s case,” she added. After almost six months of fighting with her insurance company, McClelland said she was finally offered $50,429 for the storm damage repair. During those months, it was always on her mind. “It takes a lot of soup out of you,” she said. “You never know until you get that last check that it’s finally going to be ok.” Repair work got fully underway in January, and she couldn’t be happier. The concrete tiles on the roof have been replaced with asphalt shingles. The wood siding was replaced and painted. The pockmarks on the brick were left alone, however – for character. When the deck and fence are finished, she can close the book on her insurance battle. Not surprisingly, she is most proud of her new gutters and drain spouts designed and painted to blend in seamlessly with her twostory home. They are the work of Henry VanGurp, ARI’s project manager. “He did a beautiful job,” McClelland said. “When you look at my house from the street, you don’t even see the gutters or spouts. They don’t intrude on the overall aesthetics of my home.” With her home repair nearing completion, she offered her final thoughts on how she felt during her long struggle with insurance: “I don’t drink milk, tea, coffee or whiskey, but watch the whiskey— I might."