After effects of the earthquakes in central Italy.

First topic message reminder :

We  were lucky, so far that our house has has little damage and is still habitable.  But were wondering if the earthquakes have caused a downturn in house prices and holiday bookings.
I am sure it has !

Angela Fuller wrote:Our neightbours below us and to our right have had their houses 'banded'. both are 2nd homes so there will be no earthquake monies to assist with the re-builds.  Both of these houses were 3 stories plus cellars.  Our house only has 2 floors (no cellar) so is short and squat Lisa and apart from cracks in the walls both inside and out no structural damage....we think..  Good luck with your house hunting.

Thanks Angela!  I believe we will be arriving on September 1.  We just had a glitch with Luftansa Airlines and have to rebook everything.  We were due to leave from Boston and arrive in Ancona, via Frankfurt and told the airlines reservations clerk the dimensions of our dog carrier.  (We are bringing 2 dogs, one in the hold and one in the cabin.  Our 2 cats will come in the Spring).  We booked for the largest crate possible for the hold.  I was concerned about the smaller plane from Germany and inquired about the crate size but she reassured me it was fine.  I called the airlines to double check tonight and the crate is too big!  We were beside ourselves and finally after speaking with a supervisor were able to cancel the flight as it was non-refundable.  It was incredible to us that it was their error and they initially did not want to refund our tickets.  After speaking with a supervisor, we ascertained that we could fly from Boston to Bologna via Frankfurt, as that is a bigger plane.  They would not do it for us, though, without charging us each a $20.00 booking fee!  We were on the phone with them for about 1 1/2 hours before finally getting everything sorted out. I will do this tomorrow as I have had enough aggravation for today.   Oh well, at least we will be there soon!

Well, at last the house has been fully repaired after the quakes. Furniture was delivered back on Monday, but will still take a week or so to unpack everything from the multiple boxes!!
It was amazing that even though, we offered the temporary house for free to the commune for no cost to try and help someone else, that they refused the offer and want it removed as soon as possible. It was only 28000 euro, but obviously was too much for them to pay the transport cost.
Vicino. You did ask about the Ape in the Ape. We did pay him 150 euro in the end, but I now have some very good HD pics and video from the onboard car camera showing him with a dog sat on his lap driving up the road on a later date. These are recorded with the date, time and gps location, so if he wants to play the game again, then I will release them.

Geotherm wrote:Well, at last the house has been fully repaired after the quakes. Furniture was delivered back on Monday, but will still take a week or so to unpack everything from the multiple boxes!!It was amazing that even though, we offered the temporary house for free to the commune for no cost to try and help someone else, that they refused the offer and want it removed as soon as possible. It was only 28000 euro, but obviously was too much for them to pay the transport cost.Vicino. You did ask about the Ape in the Ape. We did pay him 150 euro in the end, but I now have some very good HD pics and video from the onboard car camera showing him with a dog sat on his lap driving up the road on a later date. These are recorded with the date, time and gps location, so if he wants to play the game again, then I will release them.

So happy for you Geo. That is great news about your house!  So, what will happen with the one now?  Such a shame that the comune does not want the house. I am surprised that the insurance company does not want it back. 

Looking forward to seeing you soon.  

Thanks Lisa.
So many boxes to unpack now , but have a friend coming over today to help.
With the other house, then the insurance company would pay up to £25000 per year for alternative accommodation, so this was a alternative and probably a lesser cost in the end. They did hope we would keep it, as we also did, but Italian mentality does not allow any variation.
If it was not for the dogs, we would have probably spent the last 18 months in the Far East!!
See you soon.

What excellent news for you Geo !! It seems like your insurers have been very supportive, did you say who they were ? it would be a good advertisement for them. I know of others who have suffered damage have had awful difficulties with their insurers. Surprising to hear the comments from the comune re the temporary house AND that they want it removed asap.............maybe not a lot of thought has gone into their thinking ?

the ape in the Ape.................what an 'eejit' ....it is sad (but good idea!) that you feel the need to gather evidence 'just in case', neighbours in general are important to get on with for a stress free life.

Good luck with the unboxing !

V

Good to hear that your life is going back to normal. Hope the recent tremors are not affecting you. 
Hard to understand Council’s position and I also think that it would be a good thing to have the temporary house to use for emergencies... but perhaps common sense is not a “forte”.
In any case, enjoy being again surrounded by all your belongings and in your own home.

Geotherm wrote:Thanks Lisa.So many boxes to unpack now , but have a friend coming over today to help.With the other house, then the insurance company would pay up to £25000 per year for alternative accommodation, so this was a alternative and probably a lesser cost in the end. They did hope we would keep it, as we also did, but Italian mentality does not allow any variation.If it was not for the dogs, we would have probably spent the last 18 months in the Far East!!See you soon.

How is the unpacking going Geo?  Hope the end is in sight.  

A presto,
Lisa

Thanks all for the comments and support.

Vicino, the company for the insurance is Intasure in the UK. I must admit that they reacted very quickly to the initial damage, but were held up by the Italian slowness in the permissions for getting the repairs authorised, otherwise I think we would have been back in by last December.

Gala. I could not understand their mentality either, but we have have hopefully found another couple in a similar situation that we can help.

Lisa. The unpacking is going slowly. We have 1 very large antique German cabinet that has glasses and a dinner service in that was about 10 boxes to empty. I have at least another 12 to unpack with DVD's, books, photo albums still to go, but hope this week we will get there. After 12 years, you never realise how much you accumulate
With trying to keep the grass cut etc, it is a slow process.

Great to hear the progress, we are also with Intasure, hopefully will not need to call upon them!

Keep mowing! 

V