Over-insuring really doesn't help. In fact, one of the complaints around here is that people that DIDN'T have insurance have fared better than some people that did. I am not eligible for many gov't grants because I HAD INSURANCE. God that pisses me off. Oh, and since things took longer than a year, they're trying to use the statue of limitations on claims to keep people from filing supplementals. Part of the problem is that my damages were from flood, not from wind damage. That is an extremely important distinction. If it were wind damage, then everything would have been hunky-dory. I have replacement cost coverage on everything in my house. But since it was flood, that rider doesn't apply. It would also be worthwhile to note that you can't GET a replacement cost rider on flood, since it's a federally backed program. In other words, my $6000 sofa set was ruined. Had the roof torn off and it rained all over everything I would have been payed $6000 +tax to replace it. Since It sat in stagnant water, instead, I got just under $4000 since it was 5 years old, and therefore not worth as much as if it were new. Some things like the 240 CD's that I had in a box in the garage were completely ignored. As if they hadn't cost me ~$3600. They paid me for my cowboy boots, but not my workboots or shoes. Huh? $600 pair of boots, no problem (depreciated of course). $40 sneakers, nope. Yeah, that makes sense. I'm really beginning to be of the mind that they can keep their insurance, I'll just put that money into an account and let it draw interest until I may need it. If only I could.

As far as fair market value, I argued the same thing you did, they said "you could have gotten it done for what you were paid". But as I wasn't given a breakdown of what things should have cost, there's really no way I can fight them on how much sheet-rock cost vs how much they gave me. It just wasn't broken out that way. Oh, and as to how they figured out how much you got, they took measurements of your house and gave you so many dollars a square foot. Whether you had marble tile , hardwood floors, or stick-on linoleum.

As to coming here, the trolly's are running downtown. They haven't finished fixing everything down St Charles, so if you wanted to go to the zoo, for example, or many of our finer restaurants, you'd need a cab.

Speaking of which, Great restaurants:
Commander's Palace - Fine dining - Expensive
Drago's - Seafood, get the char-grilled oysters - moderately expensive, like $25 a person or so.
Port of Call - great burgers, just don't look at the floor or ceiling too much - $10-15 a person
In Harrah's Casino there is Besh Steakhouse. Best filet I've ever eaten. It's $35 so it isn't cheap, but I've never actually paid for it. Comps rock (and I gamble entirely too much)

Come to think of it, give me a ring and I'll try to convince the wife to take you and your G/F to Besh, We've got more comps than we'll EVER use, and we're trying to avoid the casino, but a good excuse never hurts.