WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — Vance and Virgil Whitmore were hopeful Whitmore's BBQ would have reopened by now after a devastating fire earlier this year, but they've hit a major roadblock with who they thought was their insurance company.
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The fire happened overnight on March 3, causing the roof over top of a handful of businesses to collapse.
After the fire, Virgil said he filed a claim with Nautilus Insurance Group.
"We've sent in all kinds of information that they requested initially. Supposedly we were canceled by one of the companies that we originally had insurance with," Virgil said. "Evidently, they (Nautilus Insurance) say that it was sent through [UPS] mail. We were supposed to have a certified letter that indicated what the issues were. We never saw it. Nobody knows where it is. Now we're tracking to see if we even got it, if anybody delivered it at all."
Virgil said they'd been dropped from their insurance company in November due to non-compliance, but have yet to be told the specifics of that violation.
Virgil said the ordeal has now been handed over to the insurance company's legal team.
"They've been corresponding a little bit, but in reality, there's really been nothing to prove that they are or are not going to do anything to help us," Virgil said.
I reached out to Nautilus for information.
A spokesperson told me they're unable to comment.
"As a matter of policy, we do not discuss the details of active claims, ongoing investigations, or matters that may be subject to legal, regulatory, or contractual considerations," Nautilus Insurance Group representative, Gina Butchin said via email.
The Whitmores said they paid Nautilus $8,400 for a year's worth of coverage.
They did get a refund for the days Nautilus no longer claimed them, but not until May 2026, according to Vance.
The Whitmores have also tried their mortgage company for a backup policy, but they said there's been no payout there either.
"Come to find out they wanna go back to the ones that canceled us and [are] asking them, 'Well, what happened?' Well, wait a minute, did that really ever matter? It's just one thing after another. We're on the treadmill not making any progress at all," Virgil said.
The last they heard from Nautilus Insurance was last week, according to Virgil.
The total estimated cost of repair is $300,000, and unfortunately, the Whitmores say they're no closer to reopening than the day the fire happened.
"We've loved this, to be in the community all our lives. We've loved doing it, feeding the people we grew up with, many people in the area we saw, you know, generations of people. We've been here four generations. So many people came and had the opportunity to eat our food, connect to us, and so we want to maintain a connection," Vance said.
The brothers say there's more happiness in giving than receiving as said in the Bible, and they'd like to continue following that.
Virgil and Vance are still looking at business loans in hopes of obtaining one soon.
"Our intent absolutely is to come back in and provide the service that they (customers) received from us since 1980. This location has been open and our family's been in business since 1942, long standing in Cleveland. We wanna come back and give them what they expect from us. We love them. We want them to continue to love what we do. Whatever they can do to support us, you know, we're there for it and we look forward to an opportunity for us to be back together where they expected us to be," Virgil said.
Vance added: "I feel the same way. I mean, you know, we've done it together, we're identical twins and we think very similar. We enjoy serving the customers. We love people. We miss them."
