In Altadena, the house is standing. Lab results show heavy metals in the walls, carcinogens in the ductwork. The adjuster's form asks about fire damage. There was no fire here. The insurer disputes whether invisible contamination constitutes physical damage and cuts off temporary housing before remediation is finished.
In Kerr County, Texas, the Guadalupe rose 26 feet in under an hour last July. The adjuster documents saturated walls, buckled flooring. But the cause is rising water, and the homeowners policy excludes flood. Ninety-seven percent of residents here carried none. The property wasn't on any high-risk map.
In Phoenix, an 82-year-old woman is hospitalized after her AC unit fails on day two of 108 degrees. The adjuster finds no storm, no fire, no flood. The compressor overloaded. Gradual mechanical failure. There is no line on the claim form for a home that became too hot for a human body to survive in.