I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

One company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess.

I want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?


I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

I live alone, and don't even have company because I"m embarrassed. No
one to start a fire but me, and I won't.

The front sidewalk where the mailman has to come is has a little
unevenness where one sqare is a half-inch lower than the next, but the
bushes keep him from walking on that part. The bushes cover half the
width of the sidewalk for 8 feet. Is that a problem There's enough
room for one person but not two side-by-side. (I want to trim them,
but I want to go to a garden shop for advice on how to do a nice job.)

The area 4 inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except
properly closed cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans.

The broiler pan in the stove has grease in the bottom and could use
cleaning.

The rear deck is crumbling and I was going to put in a nice larger
one. But I could repair this one in 4 hours if there will be an
inspection.

I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

Hell, burn it down and start from scratch

buzz wrote:
I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

One company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess.

I want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?


I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

I live alone, and don't even have company because I"m embarrassed. No
one to start a fire but me, and I won't.

The front sidewalk where the mailman has to come is has a little
unevenness where one sqare is a half-inch lower than the next, but the
bushes keep him from walking on that part. The bushes cover half the
width of the sidewalk for 8 feet. Is that a problem There's enough
room for one person but not two side-by-side. (I want to trim them,
but I want to go to a garden shop for advice on how to do a nice job.)

The area 4 inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except
properly closed cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans.

The broiler pan in the stove has grease in the bottom and could use
cleaning.

The rear deck is crumbling and I was going to put in a nice larger
one. But I could repair this one in 4 hours if there will be an
inspection.

I am at a loss of how to take this one. Is it a troll or is it for
real. I have known several cases that come close to fitting this case, but
there are just a few things that seem to scream troll like "The area 4
inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except properly closed
cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans."

In the event you are for real, start today and pick a small area or
project. Something that you can complete today and take care of it.
Tomorrow take on a little larger project and keep going. Consider
contacting family or friends to help out. I suspect they will be happy to
help. If you are a senior citizen call the local senior center and see if
they have help available. Get you mind into the right mode. Consider if
you really need some of those things that you have been saving, especially
those that need fixing. Likely you will never ever need or want them, they
have been replaced by better.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

buzz wrote:

I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

One company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess.

I want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?


I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

I live alone, and don't even have company because I"m embarrassed. No
one to start a fire but me, and I won't.

The front sidewalk where the mailman has to come is has a little
unevenness where one sqare is a half-inch lower than the next, but the
bushes keep him from walking on that part. The bushes cover half the
width of the sidewalk for 8 feet. Is that a problem There's enough
room for one person but not two side-by-side. (I want to trim them,
but I want to go to a garden shop for advice on how to do a nice job.)

The area 4 inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except
properly closed cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans.

The broiler pan in the stove has grease in the bottom and could use
cleaning.

The rear deck is crumbling and I was going to put in a nice larger
one. But I could repair this one in 4 hours if there will be an
inspection.

Get a copy of "Sidetracked Home Executives"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446677671/sr=8-1/qid=1151669752/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7426795-9151122?ie=UTF8
and do _exactly_ what it says. Also see a psychiatrist--you may have
problems that meds can help.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

In article , buzz
wrote:

I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while
and I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now. One company
said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any. They consider
those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess. I want to clean
up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?

I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

You, kind sir, are my late uncle reincarnate. He lived alone in a smaller
home quite literally full to the rafters with stuff. Not garbage or filth -
that went out on the curb every Friday - but he kept literally EVERYTHING
else. When the gentleman died, his estate removed 30,000 books and cancelled
84 magazine subscriptions including "Flying" and "Parents" - he was a lifelong
bachelor with no children and didn't even have a drivers license, much less a
pilot license. The company that cleaned out the house filled and emptied a 40
cu. yd. yard roll-off dumpster (the biggest they have that you usually see
behind large shopping malls) SIX TIMES. The house had deteriorated
substantially but was still liveable.

He, too, let his house insurance lapse.

The VERY FIRST thing the executor did was to get insurance on the house. They
insured the place AS IS.

Call a company every day or so until you get the coverage you need. They are
regulated by your state so there shouldn't be much difference for basic
coverage.

If they must inspect the place, and they probably do, let 'em. So what if
it's a mess? It's YOUR house, it's YOUR life and you're hurting NO ONE else.

Obviously, Uncle Bob had problems (depression among them), but he was a good
man and gentleman in every respect. The issue(s) that caused your situation
are beyond the scope of a home repair newsgroup, but give yourself credit for
posting.

Get the insurance and let 'em inspect the place. A little embarrassment is a
small price to pay for protection of something of considerable value.

Good luck!
--

JR

if this is a troll you're losing karma points

You have two things going on that run in my family: packrat-ism and a
form of depression. So it's good that you recognize this !

Job #1 is to get insurance on your house and as the other person
mentioned just keep trying. Call your old insurance company or call
all the major ones. Some states have programs for owner-occupied homes
that cannot be insured due to their condition, for this you would
contact an insurance agent or maybe your state insurance commissioner.

Job #2 is to get all the crap hauled off. For this I recommend my
"fake it" approach. Look around your house. Pretent you are normal,
which you are not (and neither am I nor half the people in my family).
Note everything that a "normal" person would not have in their house
and get rid of it. Then go thru and note everything that a normal
person would not put up with - the porch that can be fixed for example
- and either fix it or hire someone to do the work.

Job #3 is to determine how to approach your mental thingy. A relative
of mine takes generic Wellbutrin (bupropion) which costs about $10 a
month. This is a drug used to combat inertia, packrat-ism, depression,
and smoking. You have inertia. It's a mild form of depression. There
is not hing you can do about your brain but through very strict
self-discipline and/or something like bupropion you can do better.

Another sign of depression is darkness. Do you have your windows
closed off - curatins or blinds covering them ? How about those shrubs
? Sort of keep the world out don't they. Then you make an excuse for
not trimming them, that you have to go to the garden store to learn how
to trim them. This is a cop-out - obviously you have a computer and
internet access - look up what kind of bush it is and find out how to
prune it back. Or better yet, ripe the darn things out and open up
your house to sunlight !

Basically - You have the exact same thing I have and it's one heck of a
struggle. You have to do SOMEthing every day. Here I sit not mowing
the lawn !

buzz wrote:
I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

One company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess.

I want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?


I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

I live alone, and don't even have company because I"m embarrassed. No
one to start a fire but me, and I won't.

The front sidewalk where the mailman has to come is has a little
unevenness where one sqare is a half-inch lower than the next, but the
bushes keep him from walking on that part. The bushes cover half the
width of the sidewalk for 8 feet. Is that a problem There's enough
room for one person but not two side-by-side. (I want to trim them,
but I want to go to a garden shop for advice on how to do a nice job.)

The area 4 inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except
properly closed cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans.

The broiler pan in the stove has grease in the bottom and could use
cleaning.

The rear deck is crumbling and I was going to put in a nice larger
one. But I could repair this one in 4 hours if there will be an
inspection.

Your best bet for homeowner's insurance is to contact an agent.
The agent has a profit motive for getting you a policy.

When I moved in 1984, my wife was startled by the viciousness of
my dumping. Until a year ago I had bank statements and checks
going back to 1968. We are planning to move in the next 1 to 3
years so I started dumping early. It took me three days to shred
1968 through 1995. I shoulda got a bigger shredder.

Dick

Yenc-Post wrote:

Jim Redelfs wrote in
:

In article , buzz
wrote:

I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while
and I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now. One
company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on
inspecting my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess. I
want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?

I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

You, kind sir, are my late uncle reincarnate. He lived alone in a
smaller home quite literally full to the rafters with stuff. Not
garbage or filth - that went out on the curb every Friday - but he
kept literally EVERYTHING else. When the gentleman died, his estate
removed 30,000 books and cancelled 84 magazine subscriptions including
"Flying" and "Parents" - he was a lifelong bachelor with no children
and didn't even have a drivers license, much less a pilot license.
The company that cleaned out the house filled and emptied a 40 cu. yd.
yard roll-off dumpster (the biggest they have that you usually see
behind large shopping malls) SIX TIMES. The house had deteriorated
substantially but was still liveable.

He, too, let his house insurance lapse.

The VERY FIRST thing the executor did was to get insurance on the
house. They insured the place AS IS.

Call a company every day or so until you get the coverage you need.
They are regulated by your state so there shouldn't be much difference
for basic coverage.

If they must inspect the place, and they probably do, let 'em. So
what if it's a mess? It's YOUR house, it's YOUR life and you're
hurting NO ONE else.

Obviously, Uncle Bob had problems (depression among them), but he was
a good man and gentleman in every respect. The issue(s) that caused
your situation are beyond the scope of a home repair newsgroup, but
give yourself credit for posting.

Get the insurance and let 'em inspect the place. A little
embarrassment is a small price to pay for protection of something of
considerable value.

Good luck!

I used to be the same way. (due to death in the family). My auto insurance
lapsed. Because it was not renewed as opposed to being cancelled, the
company never notified the state. I was driving w/o insurance. I got
up the nerve to call my former agent. Long story short....my agent went to
bat for me. I always used to be a good client. He went thru a lot of
trouble for me and got my ins. reinstated. What a relief. I now pay all
my bills on time. I set up automatic payments thru the phone Co., water
co.,electric co., and so forth.

Additionally in some if not all states there is an alternate insurance
program run by the state that will provide at least basic insurance
(enough to cover the mortgage) on most anything that isn't ready to be
condemned. It's also pretty affordably priced from what I've seen. The
one I'm familiar with is in CT and called the "F.A.I.R. plan", you need
to have been turned down for coverage by at least two regular carriers
first.

Pete C.

1. see your doctor with a printout of this posting.
2. [in buffalo ny] call the adult protection department [all ages] of
county social services and ask them to visit you asap.
in buffalo ny they will come by within 3 days and help you get
organized and point you to all their resources.

buzz wrote:
I was tremendously disorganized and I guess depressed for a while and
I let my home insurance lapse, for several years now.

One company said they wouldn't sell me any becuase I didn't have any.
They consider those who let their insurance lapse to be a risk.

If I find a place with lower standards, will they insist on inspecting
my house? It's safe enough, but an incredible mess.

I want to clean up, and I will, but I need insurance now.

Any recommendations of what to do or what insurance company to call?


I live alone. Things piled everywhere, the middle of the living room,
the family room, and the bedrooms are full, and the sofas and spare
beds are loaded with stuff, the right half of the stairs is full of
stuff to go up or downstairs but there is no way to take the stuff to
the next floor until things there are put away, unwashed dishes, tv's
and stereos I intend to fix stacked up 2 tv's high.

I live alone, and don't even have company because I"m embarrassed. No
one to start a fire but me, and I won't.

The front sidewalk where the mailman has to come is has a little
unevenness where one sqare is a half-inch lower than the next, but the
bushes keep him from walking on that part. The bushes cover half the
width of the sidewalk for 8 feet. Is that a problem There's enough
room for one person but not two side-by-side. (I want to trim them,
but I want to go to a garden shop for advice on how to do a nice job.)

The area 4 inches around the furnace is clean. No flammables except
properly closed cans of turpentine, alcohol, and aerosol cans.

The broiler pan in the stove has grease in the bottom and could use
cleaning.

The rear deck is crumbling and I was going to put in a nice larger
one. But I could repair this one in 4 hours if there will be an
inspection.

Dick Adams wrote:
Your best bet for homeowner's insurance is to contact an agent.
The agent has a profit motive for getting you a policy.

When I moved in 1984, my wife was startled by the viciousness of
my dumping. Until a year ago I had bank statements and checks
going back to 1968. We are planning to move in the next 1 to 3
years so I started dumping early. It took me three days to shred
1968 through 1995. I shoulda got a bigger shredder.

Dick

I used to be like that.

Now I'm just less organized.