WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) – Twin brothers who own a barbecue restaurant say they never expected their business to look like this after a fire tore through it in March.
“A partial description would be devastating, didn’t really expect anything like this,” Virgil Whitmore said.
Officials say the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Whitmore brothers have been working every day since to get back on their feet.
“It was an accident, a fire, that is what insurance is supposed to be for,” Whitmore said.
Claim denied after fire
Days after the fire, the Whitmores filed a claim with their insurance company, Nautilus Insurance. The response shocked them.
“We didn’t discover that until we went to file a claim with the insurance company that we had been dropped in November,” Whitmore said.
Nautilus says it dropped the brothers in November, four months before the fire.
Months of emails reviewed from the Whitmores show no record of Nautilus telling them they had been dropped.
Nautilus Insurance gave this response when asked about the cancellation:
“There was some sort of non-compliance issue that we have no idea on, the premium was completely paid, we do it on an annual basis, it was paid,” according to Nautilus Insurance.
Backup policy also not paying
The brothers turned to their mortgage company for a backup policy.
“Through the mortgage company we can get forced place insurance, but the fact it takes such a long time, three months before that kicks in,” Whitmore said.
Even now, that policy is not paying out.
“Now after the three months, the forced place says they have to go back and find why we were supposedly cancelled or non-compliant from the first policy,” Whitmore said.
Insurer has not responded
19 News has reached our to Nautilus Insurance for answers but it has not responded.
The new insurance company is pointing back to Nautilus and will not pay until it gets answers.
The Whitmores say they want to get back to doing what they love.
“For us to have done it this long, you gotta love it, and we do, I would love to get back to it but these difficulties have made it hard to get back,” Whitmore said.
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Dining and Cooking