Help Jess recover from basement flood

I’m raising funds to support my friend Jessica, who has been through a really difficult time over the past 18 months.

The ordeal started in the fall of 2023, when her salt backwash system overflowed, pouring hundreds of gallons of water into her multi-room finished basement, where Josh's bedroom was. Travelers Insurance accepted the claim and said they would use their own preferred providers, but then, without having seen the damage, refused to allow Jess to have the water-soaked carpets and walls removed, saying there was no need and that they wouldn't pay if she tore them out. Due to the massive mold growth caused by that delay and the overwhelming smell, Jess and Josh had to move into a tent in the yard.

They put their cat in a second floor bedroom, but he became very ill from the mold anyway, requiring multiple hospitalizations and feeding tubes. For the next several months, almost all of Jess's time was split between caring for Kir and battling the insurance company, which finally had the walls and floors removed, but then, after approving written estimates, refused to pay for replacement walls and floors or any mold remediation until after Jess and Josh paid out-of-pocket to complete the work and then submitted receipts.

Between the basement loss, mold costs, and the veterinary care for Kir, Jess burned through much of her savings, and Josh took out several extra credit cards to cover costs. During this period, Josh was sleeping on the floor in the dining room, as basement contents were packed into every room upstairs, making most living areas unaccessible.

Then, when Jess submitted her receipts to the insurance company, they still refused to pay, even though they acknowledged that it was a covered claim and gave no reason for their nonpayment. Jess also has been unable to replace many of the basement contents that were destroyed (including her wheelchair and Josh's mattress) because when she sent an itemized list as Travelers had requested, they just ignored it. Eventually, because insurance never reimbursed them, Josh had to file for bankruptcy.

Jess spent months trying to find an attorney to take the case, emailing photos, videos and documents to many firms, but no one was willing to take the case on contingency, because the insurance industry is so powerful in Connecticut. Multiple complaints to Jess's state legislators and the state insurance commissioner have also gone nowhere.

Jess and Josh thought the physical part of the ordeal would be mostly over last December, when new carpet was installed in the basement. In preparation, Jess and Josh canceled the rented storage pod where they'd been holding most of the undamaged basement contents in the driveway, and temporarily moved those items into the house, whereupon Josh had to start sleeping in the upstairs hall, because there was no other space left in the house.

But then the carpet was installed completely improperly, with a foam pad (prone to molding in a basement setting), ragged seams, with holes, rips, and glue everywhere. The installer also damaged the basement's brand new walls, trim, and nearby flooring. The carpet company admitted the fault was entirely theirs, but after several weeks of saying they would replace the carpet, they finally admitted that they had not properly stretched the first carpet, which is a fundamental part of installation, and did not intend to stretch the replacement.

At this point, Josh's mental health collapsed, and he moved into a homeless shelter, leaving Jess alone to take care of Kir (who immediately stopped eating again and needed to be hospitalized at Tufts, in Massachusetts) and to deal with the basement and chaotic house by herself, with her disabilities and very poor health.

The carpet company initially said they would return Jess's purchase price, but they have not done so, and because they aren't going to do the replacement anymore, they refuse to cover the damage their installer caused or the tear-out of their own carpet, which must be removed due to the high likelihood of the foam pad molding and damaging Jess's lungs even more.

Jess is completely overwhelmed, and does not know how she is going to pay her bills, given that her disability is only about a thousand dollars a month, and she was relying on Josh's income to keep the lights on.

At this point, Jess can't afford to have the carpet torn out or replaced, as new estimates are greater than the original carpet price. She also has ongoing vet bills that Josh is no longer helping with. The insurance company, which had closed the claim and then was persuaded by Jess's state representative to re-open it, has closed it again. There is no one to make Travelers follow the law, so Jess does not expect to see any reimbursement for the tens of thousands of dollars she has already spent.

I am hoping that Jess's friends can chip in to help her deal with her cat bills and the costs for replacing the carpet and some of the destroyed basement items. If we can raise enough money to replace the carpet, I can travel down to CT during my summer vacation to move Jess’s stuff back down to the basement, as her health won’t allow her to do so.

The last couple of years have taken a terrible toll on Jess's health, and now she's completely alone, with no way to resolve any of this on her own. She has resisted the idea of a Go Fund Me for months, but it seems like the only chance of getting Jess's basement (and the rest of her house) put right. Because Jess is on Medicare, she can't accept cash gifts, but the money raised here can be used to pay some of the bills directly. Thank you for whatever you can donate!