Quote:
Originally Posted by drcoastline
Chris,
I am in the insurance business.
First you are right it is not the amount of a claim or even if you get paid that they look at. It is this history. Ie: number of claims.
You need to clarify a few things for me.
Incident #1. was roof damage causing a leak.
Incident #2. 24 hours your basement flooded. How did it flood from the roof leak or from ground water?
Incident #3 was a sewer failure? Can you explain what happened in more detail?
Have you suggested an increase in deductible?
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Thanks for responding.
Incident #1 yes the damage was causing a leak. A number of shingles had come off the roof. One particular area the wind pulled up shingles and a few days later during the next major rainstorm there was water trickling down a knee-wall. Clear water stain on the ceiling.
Incident #2. In the storm that identified the issue with #1, there was so much water that it overwhelmed the sumps, ran into the basement from the outside walkout basement door. Flooding part one occured at midnight. We cleaned up the basement and went to bed. Later the next day, the main sump pump gave out. Within a matter of 30 minutes the basement had 3-4 inches of water in it.
Incident #3. No clear cause but likely the saturated ground causes subsidence in the sewer pipe (leading to our septic tank). The coupler split creating a step in the pipe. Waste backed up against the "Step" creating a partial blockage right next to the house. My shower upstairs then went out the path of least resistance which was the first floor toilet. Filled the bathroom, ran through the floor an into the basement ceiling. Collapsed the ceiling and rained "Grey water" into the room. Several couches, lamps, new carpet. Electronics were spared luckily.
Does that help?
I won't mention the company at this point as I will give them a chance to make this right before I call them out publicly. I've tried to be a responsible customer by only claiming that which was direct and necessary. I also spent a lot of time and money through multiple backup systems and drainage fixes to mitigate future issues.
What bothers me most is that what I really have apparently is a "catostrophic coverage" policy and not a homeowners policy. Because if I use it, I lose it. If they had simply communicated clearly to me that I was at a threshold, I would have not filed the claim and taken care of this myself. ...but there is no going back now apparently.
What the offered me was an increase in my deducible from $500 to $2500 and DROPPING the water backup clause. I've most likely mitigated most every future occurence, save a long power outage when I am not home (which I am working on), but all things considered I'd be stupid not to have this clause. I don't mind a high deductible. Now that I know the "rules" I won't file a claim unless it's a BIG one going forward...
I could have easily stuck them for more, asking the cleanup/hazmat crew to do more work that the Ins. Co. would have had to pay for... more demo, moving furniture, etc.. ...but I did that myself so they wouldn't have to pay for something I could do myself. ...and this is how my conscientious decisions have been rewarded. A big ol FU. That's what bothers me.
The Agent told me it is illegal for them to tell me when they might drop me because it means they are intimidating me not to file... so it's illegal to tell me they will drop me if I file, but not illegal to do so because I didn't know? How messed up is that?
All of this over $23k which I've more than paid for with homeowners, vehicle, etc.. insurance over my time...