GREENSBORO, N.C. — Belinda Milton is a proud homeowner and prouder of the circumstances involved when her parents bought it many years ago.
“We were the first black family that moved here,” Milton said.
The house sits on the corner of Larchmont and Phillips Avenue. The single-level brick home is modest in size but overflowing with memories.
After moving away for many years, Milton moved back in to take care of her father after her mom passed away.
“My parents worked to keep it up and I want to work to keep it up as much as can,” Milton said.
About a year ago, Milton was at home when she heard a loud bang outside.
“It was like a sonic boom; the windows rattled,” Milton said.
That boom was a crash involving a car and a delivery van. The van went careening across her yard, knocking down her chain link fence, and slammed up against a tree next to the home.
“The van was really torn up. I thought it hit the house, but it didn’t hit the tree near the house,” Milton said.
No one was seriously injured, but Milton’s fence was destroyed, as were both vehicles. Milton filed an insurance claim with the driver of the car’s insurance company. Milton expected it would only take a few weeks or a month to get a refund check.
“I waited a long time,” Milton said.
Delays continued for the past two months and then into three months. After six months, Milton called WFMY News 2 when the refund check had still not arrived.
“I felt like they were playing a game with me. They were going back and forth, and no one was giving me information,” Milton said.
We reached out to the insurance company and provided information Milton gave us related to the estimates she’d received to replace the fence. The insurance company said it was waiting for the van company to provide an estimate to replace the van.
After a couple of weeks, we again reached out to the insurance company and reiterated the amount of time Milton had been without a fence. This time, we were told they would expedite the claim and reach out to Milton. A couple of weeks later, Milton called us and let us know the check had arrived.
“I appreciate you stepping up and helping me with this,” Milton said.
It didn’t take long before Milton hired a company and had a new fence installed.