Comcast Would Like Tornado Victims to Pay 'Vacation Fee' → Own your own equipment

While I realize that this story is about a stupid 'Vacation Fee' for people who no longer have a place to live it would seem to me that the other issue of these company's charging $200-1k per leased box/modem/etc.. (yes I know in some cases you can buy the modems now) would be a non-issue if they would allow the consumers to own there own equipment, there would not be a need for any of this crap as the person who just lost everything would include it in the home owners insurance claim and just cancel the service from the provider.

Obviously you have never had to file a claim.

When my mom and dads house burned down due to wild fire (some 1000 homes burned in the "Witch" fire in San Diego CA) it was almost a year to get an initial settlement. And the only reason for that was my dad was near death with cancer so they go put on priority list. Most of the homes 2 years later finally got insurance settlements. There are a couple of random homes that have not received settlements and are half renovated / abandoned because the insurance company dragged there feet so long the families went broke trying to put their lives back together.

Just lumping it on the "home insurance claim" is just showing your ignorance on how the claims system actually works.

Precisely. When the tornado came through Tuscaloosa last year, several thousand homes and businesses were either damaged or destroyed, and, while many folks got relatively quick settlements, many didn't, and I believe some still haven't. There were even stories of houses being completely destroyed, with maybe one wall left standing, and, since that one wall was still there, the insurance company said no, the house wasn't a total loss. It's even put some home and business owners at odds with the city, which wants to get these partial structures and piles of rubble cleared because they are potentially dangerous and a breeding ground for rats and snakes. However, the owners are afraid that, if everything is cleared, the evidence they need in a potential lawsuit against the insurance companies will be gone. So they wait, and, without a settlement, they can't start rebuilding, and they're forced to rent housing somewhere else. And, if they have a mortgage, the bank is still going to expect payment, so they're now paying rent and paying on a mortgage for a home that doesn't exist anymore.

Your right I have never had to deal an insurance claim for a natural disaster, my point was simply you would not be dealing with multiple a-holes like the cable company's for crap like this, instead you would just deal with the a-holes at your insurance company for the total cost.