Quote:
Originally Posted by vandridine
Every case can be different but the general idea is the insurance company comes up with a complete bullshit reason as to why problems with a house are not their fault and they deny your claim. The problem with this from a home owners perspective is that you have to take them to court to disprove their claim.
Lets take a very large tree falling on the roof of a house as an example, when the tree falls on the roof, it creates a large hole which opens up the house to the outdoors. Usually storms with winds strong enough to knock down trees are accompanied by rain which means water gets into the house and the next thing you know your house has water damage and mold (which can be VERY expensive to fix).
In situations like this we have seen insurance companies come in and say they will fix the structural damage to the house but the water and mold damage is not their fault because you should have covered the hole in roof sooner then you did. They deny paying for the rest of the damage (ruined furniture, electronics, rebuilding of the interior of the house, mold, you get the idea). The home owner starts fighting with the insurance company, meanwhile the house is not being repaired and is open to the elements, which it remains like as long as the insurance company refuses to pay.
We even had a client who had this HUGE tree fall on their house and when you went into their basement, you could see multiple cracks in the foundation right under where this tree landed. They called the insurance company, the insurance company came by and said nope, those cracks are settlement cracks and denied the claim. It was the most bullshit thing i had ever seen, the home owner ended up winning but it took years in court.
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I live in FL and fortunately have not had such experience nor have any friends who have told me about such experiences following hurricanes. I have heard about debates of whether homeowners or flood insurance applies but general rule of thumb here is that damage to the roof such that water enters from above is homeowners, while rising water is flood. I also understand it is better to have a homeowners claim than flood claim (assuming you have flood insurance, as some people do not).
If this is what insurance companies are doing on a regular basis there is a serious regulatory problem. Expecting a homeowner to go outside and climb on the roof to cover it during a winter storm when trees are falling (or even after the storm when hazards remain) is ridiculous.
In any event, hopefully these situations are exceptions and will not be an issue for OP.