| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Past Blessings |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 7:29:47 PM
This weekend the hose broke on the icemaker of our fridge and ruined our wood laminate flooring, the wall behind the fridge, the ceiling of the room below and the wall of the room below. We called to make an insurance claim, but are still not sure it will be covered. It is so frustrating. Apparently before it completely "flooded" this weekend, it had been having a slow drip for several weeks,if not monthes, and so there is mold. Because of the mold the insurance is saying this is a "maintainence issue". This makes no sense to me. Regardless of if it leaked fast or slow the outcome is the same damage. And the mold is only seen when you pull off the flooring, between the vinyl that is under the wood laminate and the subfloor. There is no way we could have known as it wasn't visible. I asked them what they are suggesting we could have done different to "maintain it" since they are saying it is a maintainence issue and they offer me nothing. They can't give us a single error we made, but are saying because it happened slowly at first, and then fast at the end, causing the mold, it isn't covered. If it would have just burst, without the slow start we would be fine. This is so stupid. I asked the adjuster if we were expected to randomly remove our flooring or drill through our walls to check for leaks and mold "just incase." Yes, as you can guess by this point I was having an attitude problem. Anyway, they will decide Friday if they will cover it. If they deny it we will appeal. It is so stupid. I have no idea why we are forced to have home owners insurance if it doesn't cover such things as this. We have never made a claim in the 17 years we have owned a home. It will cost thousands to fix it all and if they don't cover it, we will have to take our house off the market . . . we had just listed it to buy a home nearby that is a bit bigger with more of the features we want. We were supposed to have the realtor's open tomorrow, where all the realtors go through, but we have cancelled it for now, since everything is now torn up. So who knows. So frustrating. Just had to "Vent".
Brenda
Past Blessings . . . Celebrating Life as it used to be . . . when people loved God, loved their families and loved their country. |
| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| abbasgurl |
Posted - Aug 18 2007 : 8:43:02 PM
Hi Brenda,
I am so sorry to hear you are going through all of this. First the flooding and then the lack of help from your insurance company! Many years ago I had a similar problem, and was advised by another agent to "drop" the phrase "Indian Department of Insurance" to my insurance agent. I did so, and our status went from "not covered" to "covered" in 5 minutes! Like magic.
Every state has an agency which regulates insurance and they will help you if you feel your agent or company is not treating you fairly.
Search online using the phrase "department/division of insurance" with your state. Let you agent know you intend to contact your state's agency if they will not work with you.
As a side note, all agencies carry liability insuance to cover any boo boos their agents might make. I would not feel bad about pushing for this incident to be covered, as you have been a good customer for 17 years-without even one claim!
It always burns me up to see insurance companies very willing to take our premiums, but unwilling to work with us when there is a problem. Good luck Brenda. Let us know how things turn ot.
Rhonda
I'm a one girl revolution. |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 18 2007 : 7:31:18 PM
Brenda-
How are things going at the house and with the insurance company?
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| emsmommy5 |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 3:11:44 PM
Boy. I know the frustration of dealing with water damage and insurance companies. The drain pipe that hooks up to the vent pipe broke in the kitchen wall and it was about 6 months before we actually figured out that was what happened. The insurance refused to pay a dime because it was not a catastrophic accident, like a hose coming off an appliance. We were so frustrated. Our insurance guy said that most insurance companies changed water damage policies some time ago due to things just like a leak in a bathroom or kitchen. They are willing to pay for wet carpet from a portable dishwasher that comes dislodged, but not anything that is considered a "leak".
I would certainly push for at least partial coverage from when the hose came off, even if they won't cover the damage from the ongoing leak.
Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth! |
| Annie S |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 12:22:13 PM
Brenda, my heart goes out to you. I agree with everyone else about the mold. I'm very allergic to mold and mildew and believe me, it's not a pretty sight when I'm exposed. so if you'd had recent problems with sinus, colds, coughing, eyes swelling, not breathing right, etc. and have doctor bills related to that, save them and see if you can get reimbursement for them since it's all related to the mold. But I'd sure fight with your insurance company on this. You've paid into them, now you need them to help pay for the repairs. Keep fighting for your rights. I'll be pulling for you.
Peace and love,
Annie |
| Photobugs |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 11:38:35 AM
Well, Brenda having just have gone through this with my daughter I know what you are going through. Although with her the insurance company did not get anyone out to check on things until the mold was up the wall 12." This is in the downstairs where the washing machine sprung a leak. The kids rooms and their game room are all down there! The damage and cost of moving everything out, storing their household goods, renting an RV to house the kids while the work was done to repair, etc. ended up being a settlement of around $23,000.00 Can you believe that? The error was made by the insurance person who took the report initially, she did not get anyone out to check on it until the damage was done with the mold. We can only hope and pray that God protected those children the whole time they were sleeping done there with mold growing up the walls. BTW, you could not see it, as it grows under the paint! So there is no way to know it is happening. They have to bring in a special tester to find this out.
At least it was summer time and the kids were at least outside most of the time anyway, except for sleeping. If it had been winter, when it is night-time there for 21 hours of the day, the kids would have been much more exposed.
Oh, just when you think nothing else can go wrong...it does! They call that Murhpy's Law. But Our Good Lord knows and He will help you get through this too!
As for my daughter...one good thing came from it. She got her whole basement remodeled, plus the two upstairs bathrooms redone. My husband went and did all of the work and he did an awesome job. So he was able to do more than if they paid someone else for the same work. I guess they added about a $30,000.00 value to their home. So for them it turned out good!
Hope your scenerio does as well, Brenda, you deserve it!
Your friend,
pamela
http://homesteadmercantile.blogspot.com/ |
| janetinva123 |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 11:02:11 AM
I had a friend who this happened to also. they had a water break under the house and by the time they figured it out mold had started so the insurance company said they would only pay a portion because it should have been maintained better. They had all kinds of problems with mold and finally had to move out for a while until it could dry out and they could fix everything.
Jc
http://beloved-creations.blogspot.com
http://beloved-creations.com |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 10:57:24 AM
Brenda-
I hope they come through for you because I love my Farmer's insurance and they have always been great to me. But who knows if the auto insurance is different than homeowners?
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| Lizabeth |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 08:30:16 AM
Hugs to you Brenda! I sure hope this gets resolved in your favor.
When the mold inspector comes, accept their bill and submit it to the insurance company... do not write them a personal check or this will be one more issue with your insurance company--trying to get re-imbursement.
We just had our ice maker hose break. what a mess! but fortunately ours was a "dam breaker" and not a slow one.
http://www.handcraftsbyheather.com |
| Past Blessings |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 08:14:57 AM
Thanks everyone for the encouragement and suggestions. To answer some of the questions. The fridge is 3 years old, so off warranty and I believe hoses are considered "add-ons" so aren't part of the fridge warranty anyway. The insurance co. is Farmers. They are planning to send a mold specialist, but at this point, we don't know whose dime it will be on. Ron and I would even be willing to clean the mold up ourselves, which is basically pulling up the laminate and then removing the vinyl and scrubbing the underlayment with some type of mold killing disinfectant. But I don't think they will allow us to because of the risk of toxic fumes. We would wear gloves and face respirators, but I doubt they will budge on this. We were waffling on whether to truly move or not. This may financially make our decision for us. I am wondering, depending how long this has been growing under the floor, if some of my sinus problems, headaches and respiratory issues could be related to this? Did I have two surgeries for nothing? LOL! It just starts your mind going all sorts of weird directions! All I do know is we had no way of knowing about this, there is nothing we know we could have done to prevent it and we will fight for coverage to the end. So tired of all the battles!
Hugs & blessings!
Brenda
Past Blessings . . . Celebrating Life as it used to be . . . when people loved God, loved their families and loved their country. |
| paradiseplantation |
Posted - Aug 14 2007 : 06:29:41 AM
Been there, done that, only ours was with our roof. My heart goes out to you for having to deal with this. I deal with medical insurance billing everyday, and I constantly get excuses from the companies on why they denied the claim -- 99% of which are bogus, and I can prove them wrong. They really don't care, as they get to keep their money for another 30 days, until I can get the claim resubmitted. OOOOHHHHHH!!!! Don't get me STARTED on insurance companies! |
| queenofdreamsz4u |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 11:36:18 PM
Brenda,
I sure hope you can get this resolved so you won't have to live with the mold problem for very long.
Stephanie |
| katmom |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 10:25:22 PM
Bummer, you are right, it is just so frustrating...Hang in there, committ it to prayer and be patient, Friday will be here soon.
Challenges make us strong, crazy, but strong.
hugz,
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
www.katmom4.blogspot.com |
| Carol Sue |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 9:40:22 PM
Ya know Brenda, you could flood one of their places and see if they can find it!!!!!Yes, I am being a smart alec. It is ridiculous what we have to go through just to claim what we have paid years for....tell me this makes sense....
Brenda, girl it is time for your luck to more than change. Oh girlfriend, hugs!!
Carol Sue
Enjoying life. |
| Shirlaroo |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 9:13:31 PM
So sorry to hear of your annoying situation Brenda. Hope it all works out soon.
Friends are the best collectables. |
| Huckelberrywine |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 9:12:12 PM
 I hope they see reason. I'm sorry, but I have lost much faith in insurance companies to do the right thing. I honestly hope they come through for you. What a weasley arguement for them to make. You have a good point, how on earth is tearing up the flooring to check for leaks a reasonable expectation for routine maintenance?
We make a difference. |
| Alee |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 8:31:07 PM
Oh Brenda! I am so sorry that you are having this issue! How old is your fridge? Is it still under warrenty for the ice maker hose? If it is, you might be able to get the fridge maker company to pay for the damage since it is their product that caused so much damage. If not I wouldn't let your home owner's insurance get away with not paying.
You sure are having a rough summer! I hope your luck changes soon!
Alee
The amazing one handed typist! One hand for typing, one hand to hold Nora!
http://home.test-afl.tulix.com/aleeandnora/ |
| Leezard |
Posted - Aug 13 2007 : 8:29:34 PM
Insurance, be it health, home, car, whatever, annoys me and I'm so sorry that you're having to deal with this! It seems the companies just suck up the money we pay for their services and they get to choose if we're worthy of their coverage when the time comes for them to act. It is so frustrating! I hope that your situation turns out good and they cover what you've paid them for!
http://ruby--slippers.blogspot.com/
www.leezard.etsy.com |
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