homeowners insurance claim questions

[chiver78]

would someone tag Paul for me please? I'm on my phone and Tapatalk, haven't figured that out yet.

this weekend, in Winter Storm Riley (or whatever it was called) I lost power for 24h and my sump pump couldn't keep up with the water coming into my basement from a previously unknown crack in the foundation. the high point was 2" of water across the board. most things were elevated, there are a number of plastic tubs directly on the floor that are fine. a number of things weren't elevated enough, and may be lost. my paver patio is showing signs of caving down the hill, as that side of the backyard is where the sump dumps out to.

my question is more of this - when I called my insurance company to initiate the claim, I made sure to be clear that while I live in a flood zone, this was not at all coastal flooding. I have been playing phone tag all afternoon with the adjuster, but apparently it's logged in as water damage. can I edit this claim to also include the loss of contents of fridge/freezer?

also, what kind of documentation is needed for things? other than the food (trash day is tomorrow, I'm just taking pictures and pitching shit) I am going to try to hold onto as much as possible. I had to the printer whose ink was spouting like a farting octopus, but everything else is still in the house.

basically, what do I need to do?

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Tag Iggy aka IG

[Sharon]

tag AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP

[Deleted]

Do you think you have enough damage to warrant a claim?   I made a similar claim in 2007 floods here (mine was considered sewer back up because the septic pump quit).  They paid out a few thousand, but I ended up having to switch insurance companies when the renewal came up because my rates skyrocketed.  I was told I was lucky, that lots of people were just dropped. 

[chiver78]

thanks, tagging posters.

yes, I think I have enough to file a claim. between damage to things that apparently weren't elevated enough. and today's discovery that the patio is caving in. ugh

[andi9899]

It is water damage. If you live in a flood zone, it only has to affect 2 adjacent lots to be considered flood damage. I imagine you have flood insurance since you live in a flood zone and carry a mortgage. As far a food, you can take pictures, but I've always had adjusters ask for receipts to reimburse for the replacement. Keep receipts for everything regardless of how small a detail it may seem. Worst case scenario is the insurance company denies the receipt.

[Peace77]

Photograph the serial number , model number plste on the printer before you throw it out if possible.

[chiver78]

Mar 6, 2018 1:11:01 GMT -5 Peace77 said:

Photograph the serial number , model number plste on the printer before you throw it out if possible.

yeah, that's gone. I had a huge contractor bag going while I cleaned up the cardboard boxes, this was in one of them. it's at the bottom of my huge trash barrel, under another couple bags by now. given the other stuff that was in that box, the printer was easily 20 years old. I don't remember it at all, it may not have even been mine but my sister's.

[chiver78]

andi, nobody else around me had water. the other end of the canal is a fucking mess, but this side is more or less okay. noreaster actually, the agent when I called it in yesterday morning was pretty clear about coastal flooding vs rainwater.

the good news for today is that my sump is firing off at 38 seconds now, down from 30 yesterday and 18 on Sunday. progress...

[alabamagal]

I would seriously consider the loss amount minus deductible. My homeowners is $1k, and it would take a lot of food to make it to that much. Claim history is a big part of setting future rates.

[Iggy aka IG]

chiver78, as you know I'm not an adjuster, but I can provide some random thoughts from an agent standpoint:

On some policies refrigerated products is listed separately under additional coverages.

Echoing minnesotapaintlady and alabamagal, I would carefully weigh your pros and cons about submitting a claim.

In the past, I've had a client's claim denied because it was surface water coming into the basement of the home, and they didn't have flood insurance.

Take a video of the mess if you haven't already.

[chiver78]

so I talked to the office guy this morning, sounds like the food is a separate thing from the rest. my deductible is $1k, and I think I need to figure out exactly what is a loss down there. there's still water, and I do have a video. 

can I decline to proceed on this if it turns out not to be worth it? 

[Iggy aka IG]

Have they opened a claim yet?

[andi9899]

Mar 6, 2018 11:15:22 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

so I talked to the office guy this morning, sounds like the food is a separate thing from the rest. my deductible is $1k, and I think I need to figure out exactly what is a loss down there. there's still water, and I do have a video. 

can I decline to proceed on this if it turns out not to be worth it? 

You can decline to proceed, but you're still going to have a chargeable claim in your loss history. It still counts even if they paid nothing. If there was no claim filed, you're ok. Who have you been talking to? The agent, or an 800 #? If it's the 800#, they've already opened a claim.

[Deleted]

You are evidently not supposed to use home owner's insurance unless it's a total loss.   

I had one loss in probably 25 years.  It was a small kitchen fire that required the countertops and backsplash be replaced.  Because I had a $500 deductible and it was a $3500 claim, we filed.

My insurance rates had a hefty surcharge for the next three years.  They forced me to raise my deductible to 1% of the replacement cost.  That became a $2000 deductible that increased every year because replacement costs increase every year.  After the surcharge  ended, they let me freeze it at $2000  . . . for a higher premium, of course.

There is also some sort of report (Andi would know what it is called) that is like a credit report for your house.  It lists all the claims on your house, whether they paid or not.  

You guys actually told me not to file a claim, and I didn't listen.

[chiver78]

well, I've talked to a few different people already and there is a claim number assigned. so it sounds like I'm in for a pound at this point.

[Deleted]

I might actually look at raising my deductible to 5K (I think it's 1/2% now), to save on premiums, since I don't think I'd ever file for anything below that ever again anyhow. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Mar 6, 2018 11:36:43 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

You are evidently not supposed to use home owner's insurance unless it's a total loss.   

I had one loss in probably 25 years.  It was a small kitchen fire that required the countertops and backsplash be replaced.  Because I had a $500 deductible and it was a $3500 claim, we filed.

My insurance rates had a hefty surcharge for the next three years.  They forced me to raise my deductible to 1% of the replacement cost.  That became a $2000 deductible that increased every year because replacement costs increase every year.  After the surcharge  ended, they let me freeze it at $2000  . . . for a higher premium, of course.

There is also some sort of report (Andi would know what it is called) that is like a credit report for your house.  It lists all the claims on your house, whether they paid or not.  

You guys actually told me not to file a claim, and I didn't listen.

Or drive imperfectly whatsoever.  One speeding ticket years ago added an extra $240 to my insurance premium for 3 years.

It's a CLUE report.  Last week, one of my new clients was dinged an extra $200 on his homeowners insurance for a claim on his prior home in a different state.  When I asked underwriting to waive it, she said we cannot due to the way we're filed with the DOI (Division of Insurance).  We would be fined if we waived it.

[Iggy aka IG]

Mar 6, 2018 11:40:43 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I might actually look at raising my deductible to 5K (I think it's 1/2% now), to save on premiums, since I don't think I'd ever file for anything below that ever again anyhow. 

I did this on our prior homeowners policy. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

What determines this?  The only claim that has been filed on this house was when a falling tree took out the roof over the master bedroom and bath.  As far as I know, rates weren’t raised.

I got a speeding ticket a few years ago and my rates weren’t raised.

Are certain agencies more lenient?

[hoops902]

Mar 6, 2018 13:29:52 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

What determines this?  The only claim that has been filed on this house was when a falling tree took out the roof over the master bedroom and bath.  As far as I know, rates weren’t raised.

I got a speeding ticket a few years ago and my rates weren’t raised.

Are certain agencies more lenient?

I'm not sure if "lenient" is the right word...but kind of. Different agencies have different ways of rating and pricing risk. So you might have 2 agencies, A rates you as an 8, B rates you as a 9 (generically speaking, leaving this as open as possible in terms of type of coverage), where 10 is the "best".  You have a small claim.  A might still rate you as an 8.  B might change your rating from 9-8.  You have a 2nd, much larger claim.  A might now rate you as a 6.  B might now rate you as a 5. 

You might also find that A rating you as an 8 means you pay $20.  If they lower you to a 7, then your rate goes up to $21.  If they lower you to a 6, your rate might go up to $50 because they perceive a very small difference between 8s and 7s, but a very large difference between 7s and 6s. 

That's why I say lenient may not necessarily be accurate by agency.  Making a small first-time claim with one company may result in more "leniency", but a larger claim with that company might end up with much less leniency than another company has.  It's all based on their risk and pricing model. 

You can look at it the same way we all look at people when they post a "budget review".  10 of us looking at all the same facts might interpret them differently ranging from "you're in great shape, live it up and spend a little money enjoying life" to "you're behind, you need to tighten up that belt".  It's not a homogenous "profile" from one agency to the next...they might all have the same facts about you, but they interpret you differently as a stream of money/risk.

[andi9899]

Mar 6, 2018 13:29:52 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

What determines this?  The only claim that has been filed on this house was when a falling tree took out the roof over the master bedroom and bath.  As far as I know, rates weren’t raised.

I got a speeding ticket a few years ago and my rates weren’t raised.

Are certain agencies more lenient?

It's determined by cause of loss, claim amount, tenure, and a slew of other things.

As far as the ticket question, it depends on those things as well, but some companies rate their auto differently by "preferred" or "nonpreferred" rates. At SF, if you are preferred you don't get charges for point violations. AAA will jack your rate up if you breathe wrong. Just depends who you're with and all those other things.

[CCL]

Mar 6, 2018 11:40:43 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I might actually look at raising my deductible to 5K (I think it's 1/2% now), to save on premiums, since I don't think I'd ever file for anything below that ever again anyhow. 

That's a lot of money to come up with if you have a claim though. Then what do you do if you have a claim for, say $7k or $8k? Do you turn it in to save yourself the $2k or $3k out-of-pocket even though they might raise your rates because of it?

We've had claims due to hail storms. The thing was, everything got damaged, so we had to pay multiple deductibles all at once. If we had higher deductibles, it would have been worse.

[chiver78]

adjuster is coming out on Saturday. will keep y'all posted. 

[Deleted]

Mar 6, 2018 20:12:35 GMT -5 CCL said:

Mar 6, 2018 11:40:43 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I might actually look at raising my deductible to 5K (I think it's 1/2% now), to save on premiums, since I don't think I'd ever file for anything below that ever again anyhow. 

That's a lot of money to come up with if you have a claim though. Then what do you do if you have a claim for, say $7k or $8k? Do you turn it in to save yourself the $2k or $3k out-of-pocket even though they might raise your rates because of it?

We've had claims due to hail storms. The thing was, everything got damaged, so we had to pay multiple deductibles all at once. If we had higher deductibles, it would have been worse.

I don't know.  I'd have to see what kind of rate cut it was.  I've only made two claims in 24 years.  So, if we're talking a savings of over $300/year, I would have come out ahead paying the extra $3500 or so deductible on those two claims (actually wouldn't have made the one claim). 

My other claim was a hail damage one and it was like 25K, but I only had to pay the one deductible.   One truck was damaged in addition to the house and barn, but I have zero deductible comprehensive on the vehicles.  I didn't fix the truck either (or the barn), I pocketed that part of the payout and just got a new 18K roof on the house. 

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Mar 6, 2018 11:40:43 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I might actually look at raising my deductible to 5K (I think it's 1/2% now), to save on premiums, since I don't think I'd ever file for anything below that ever again anyhow. 

We have a $5,000 deductible.

[happyhoix]

Mar 6, 2018 8:32:08 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Mar 6, 2018 1:11:01 GMT -5 Peace77 said:

Photograph the serial number , model number plste on the printer before you throw it out if possible.

yeah, that's gone. I had a huge contractor bag going while I cleaned up the cardboard boxes, this was in one of them. it's at the bottom of my huge trash barrel, under another couple bags by now. given the other stuff that was in that box, the printer was easily 20 years old. I don't remember it at all, it may not have even been mine but my sister's.

When the tornado hit our house, the adjustor gave us forms to complete on the damaged items. We listed what we had and approximately what it was worth, showed receipts on replacements we bought for them. For the food, they said just to list a total number (like $200 for the contents of the fridge).  They said as long as it was reasonable (like we didn't claim to be storing nothing but frozen steaks and lobsters in our freezer) they would pay it.

Good luck with your claim. Ours was excruciating.  In all, I think we had to pay about $35,000 to cover what the insurance wouldn't, plus we had to move out for 3 months, and then spent the first 3 months back at home living without flooring on the first level because the insurance company dragged their feet about replacing the hard woods that were ruined with the roof blew away. Unfortunately, most of my neighbors also has problems with their insurers. Very disappointing.

[chiver78]

oh my god, how horrible. and I remember what GRG went through a couple years back as well. mine is nowhere near that bad, thankfully.

[happyhoix]

With my neighbors, if the house was totaled or if the damage was <10,000 bucks, there didn't seem to be a problem with the insurance company. Once the claim became >10,000, though, it seems like they started nit picking, trying to get you to patch your roof rather than replace it, patch the siding rather than replace it, replace five broken windows but refuse to replace your other windows so all the windows match, that kind of thing.

Yours sounds like it's way less than 10,000 so hopefully no problems. Fingers crossed!

[chiver78]

thanks! 


speaking of GRG, has she been online this morning? I saw on the news that her county has 90,000 without power. my parents do, I checked already. but she's not too far away from them.