Hey Insurance Guys! --> Kitchen faucet failure / Homeowner's insurance question

This morning, I came home from working a 24 hour shift to find a fairly substantial water condition. The $20 cartridge failed on a three year old kitchen faucet (rhymes with "Noen", lifetime warranty), and water leaked all night. It leaked past the base of the cabinet and through the plywood and the insulation below. It flowed into an electrical outlet and probably got between the hardwood floors and the plywood subfloor.

I turned off the water and pulled down the wet insulation below, but that as far as I've taken it.

I can fix the source of the problem with a warranty part or by picking up the same part from Lowe's for $20.

My real concern is the potential for mold growth, buckling of the hardwood floors, and maybe some cabinet damage, which would quickly get into thousands of dollars, so I'm considering getting my insurance company involved.

If I contact the faucet company and have them send out the part, does that absolve them from a future damage claim? If I buy and replace the part myself, does that limit my options in any way?

I'm trying to avoid screwing myself, either with or without the insurance company.

I have no experience but it seems like time to get your homeowners insurance involved. 

I wouldn't expect anything to be paid by the faucet manufacturer, however your homeowners insurance might have the legal experience to get some pay out of the faucet manufacturer. 

John Welsh said:

I have no experience but it seems like time to get your homeowners insurance involved. 

I wouldn't expect anything to be paid by the faucet manufacturer, however your homeowners insurance might have the legal experience to get some pay out of the faucet manufacturer. 

The word you are looking for is Subrogate.

Let the insurances lawyers go after the faucet people. Faster, easier, less painful and risky than paying for an attorney to do it yourself. 

I'm sure this varies by state and policy, but I think this sounds like a straitforward homeowners claim.  I have a coworker who started to fill a bucket in her first floor utility sink and promptly forgot about it for several hours.   She says her insurance bought her new flooring and drywall, everything.

What he said.  This is why you have insurance and is a very typical claim.  They can get you right, and you are doing the right things to mitigate your damages ASAP.   Getting some air movers and dehumidifiers in there soon will help dry it up fast before more damage is done  

 If you have the verification of your purchase and warranty then they may be able to subrogate the faucet company.  

Update:

Insurance has been notified. Dryers are on the way. I do have the warranty and product registration from the faucet purchase. It was registered when purchased three years ago.

I feel your pain. When my oldest was still on the bottle, I got up in the middle of the night to feed her. As I turned the corner into the kitchen, I noticed the floor was incredibly shiny. 

Turns out that a fiber washer in the dishwasher failed, and since it was on an open water line... 

Flooring, subfloor, just about everything in the basement below was trashed. 

Insurance took care of it. 

In reply to Woody :

Take picture and your home owners insurance should cover damage less deductible.  

Woody said:

Update:

 I do have the warranty and product registration from the faucet purchase. It was registered when purchased three years ago.

^^^ I'm impressed!

That said, I always lose dealing with insurance.

frenchyd said:

In reply to Woody :

Take picture and your home owners insurance should cover damage less deductible.  

 

Why? The insurance company will either send out an adjuster to estimate damages, or send out one of their preferred contractors to just do all the work (this is of course the Homeowners choice). You pay the contractor your deductible, bing, bang, boom. It's much better than going back and forth, getting multiple estimates, etc, etc. 

Typically the big companies have a program with local contractors that will not only do all the work, it will be backed with a limited lifetime warranty. I know this is how State Farm does it.

Sonic said:

What he said.  This is why you have insurance and is a very typical claim.  They can get you right, and you are doing the right things to mitigate your damages ASAP.   Getting some air movers and dehumidifiers in there soon will help dry it up fast before more damage is done  

 

 If you have the verification of your purchase and warranty then they may be able to subrogate the faucet company.  

Yes, just confirming this.  Let your carrier handle it.  Mitigate your damages, and hold onto the failed cartridge.  Your carrier will deal with subrogation.  That can get pretty complicated, and you don't want to get stuck in it.  It will likely involve the installer, the supplier and the manufacturer.  Deal with that stuff all the time (general liability claims) and it gets hairy.