I know we've got some experts in the both the building and the insurance world. Please don't let this thread degrade into the usual insurance bashing.
Basics from the minor rant thread - I had a Schrader valve in the well line that started to leak, and an issue with the well tank, so my usual plumbing company came out and fixed it yesterday. That's where this story picks up:
The repair sprung a leak overnight. About a quarter of our basement has standing water in it, at least one door is damaged plus some drywall, and I'm pretty sure water also got under the vinyl planks that the PO used on the basement (it did).
Time to document, document, document while I'm waiting for them to show up. Currently underway, the more I look the more damage I find. Yay.
Oh, and I flipping faceplanted on the wet floor while trying to rush to drain the tank. So now I've also got a mildly sprained wrist on top of all of the other E36 M3.
Question - call my home insurance immediately, or give the plumbing company a chance to get their insurance involved? Because I shouldn't be paying for this out of my own pocket, and I don't see a reason that my insurance should pay for it either. Plus I have a fairly high deductible so I may end up with a claim and still pay out of pocket anyway.
i can't offer any advice but a buddy had a problem similar to yours (not caused by a tradesman) and he called his insurance. His insurance provider dispatched servicesmaster who promptly cleaned it up, dried everything out, repaired all the damage, etc.
so one benefit of using your insurance is that they will also handle clean up, disposal, etc. Sure you might have to pay your deductable but if the insurance company goes after the tradesman you typically get the first dollars recovered.
However you do it, you want the water remediation done by folks who specialize in it, rather than the plumbers.
I'm no insurance expert, but generally speaking I believe that the less I have to use my own insurance, the less justification they have for raising my rates any more than they otherwise would have, or outright dropping me... Which they apparently can eventually do at some point even if you're never at fault. So I prefer to file through the other party's insurance first, with mine as a backup if the service and/or resolution are not to my satisfaction.
Filing through your insurance will go after their insurance for reimbursement anyway, so you and your insurance shouldn't ultimately end up paying for it either... But the process of doing so does still have costs for them to consider.
Pump the water out first.
Contact your home Owner Insurance company and let THEM duke it out with the Plumbers' bonded agent or company. Take a breath, be polite when dealing with these folks....
Contact your insurance company, they will go after the contractor's insurance. That's what you pay them for.
i recommend contacting your homeowner's insurance because it's what they do day in and day out, and (in my experience) they will have a more vested interest in any future issues that could be traced back to how this remediation was handled.
Thanks, looks like my instincts were correct then.
Plumber fixed the leak, and the remediation company just left after tearing out the damage and leaving behind an impressive collection of fans and dehumidifiers. The good news in this E36 M3 show was that I caught it early enough so a lot of the water was under the laminate flooring and hadn't progressed to swimming pool levels yet.
I guess this is one way to celebrate my wife's birthday, although I think we'll try to not repeat this next year.
stuart in mn said:
Contact your insurance company, they will go after the contractor's insurance. That's what you pay them for.
This is exactly what I was going to say. Subrogation is the fancy term for it.
Restoration Management did a stellar job for us!
