Water in Basement / Insurance help / advice needed

[TheRic]

Need some advice / help ASAP. We are meeting with our insurance adjuster this afternoon. I could not write sooner since I left town for Bristol Fri night / Sat AM, got back in late last night.

The sump pump stopped Thursday night / Friday AM. We got a few inches in are finished basement. Had people in Friday to dry it out, they came back Monday sometime and moved things around. They are suppose to come back again today, and again sometime to clean things. Right now the basement is very musty smelling. Was really bad Friday night, couldn't stand to be down there for more than 30 minutes, had trouble breathing.

Would like to know what to say / ask about with the insurance adjuster. Do I get new items, or is it pro-rated? For example got a notebook computer that I'm sure is junk. It was old but still worked great for how I used it. Am I going to get $10 for it, or $500 for it?? (just throwing out numbers). The deep freezer (in the basement) is acting up now, not sure if it's related. How do I know if it's related to the water damage or not?

I do know...

1. We are covered for sump pump stopping / water damage. $500 deductible.

2. Do NOT sign off on anything yet, wait to see what else might not be working / damaged. Have two years I was told.

3. Have found a few things that are damaged / ruined but nothing major. What do I look for?

Any other advice from the people out there??!!!

Thanks for any and all help.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

RIC, I PMd you. Call me!
I am an expert!

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Somethings to ask/consider :

1) Does you sump pump coverage have a limit? Frequently you will find a limit of sump pump coverage of $10,000.

2) Does your sump pump endorsement provide coverage for structure and contents? Some sump pump endorsements limit to structure and major appliances such as Washer/Dryer that maybe in basement.

3) I am very confident that you have a replacement cost policy if you have a policy that has sump pump coverage. Having said that, sump pump coverage sometimes has an ACV (actual cash value = replacement - depreciation) element that does not afford replacement cost for personal property. In the example of your laptop they would estimate the cost of a brand new like kind and quality (ie probably about the most basic laptop on the market would exceed your specs on your old unit), lets say $500 for replacement cost. They will deduct depreciation from the replacement cost (on laptop lets say $500 - 70% depreciation) to come up with the ACV ($150 for our example). You will get initial payment for $150. You go out and replace the laptop with anything computer you want that exceeds the $500 RC and submit that proof to the company. They will then release the depreciation that was withheld to you ($350 in our example).

4) Deep freeze. Unlikely damaged unless there was 3" or greater. Look at the clearance under the unit to see if water directly impacted. Moisture content in the air would not have significantly impacted a deep freeze. At this point I am denying coverage! LOL!

5) Who told you 2 years? They don't know what they are talking about. There is no limitation of recovery time limit in property coverage forms, except for .5 - 2 years to recover depreciation (depends on state. I am pretty sure you are 1 year in OH).

6) What do you look for? Well the key is making sure that that the water monkeys (ie dry out company = property insurance drain such as chiropractor = auto insurance drain) get everything dry. They are responsbile for this, not your insurance company. Make sure they use good moisture meters to read drywall and carpeting. If they have a moisture meter that would be appropriate for woodworking be sure to try to steal it from them. Make sure carpeting pad was removed and disposed of. It can not be dried. Carpet can be dried, restreched, installed and cleaned. They should get rid of all oder. Do not sign authorization for direct payment for the water monkeys. You want control over when/how much they get paid.

[crokett]

Ric,

For the cleaning/drying out we were very happy with Servpro last year after our basement flooded. Things to watch for: assuming carpet, write off the pad. Ours was not covered (groundwater isn't unless you have flood insurance) and we had people in right away to dry stuff out, so we were able to save the carpet. If yours isn't dried out, toss the carpet. That is where most of the smell is.

Baseboard will be removed and they will cut into the cavities behind the baseboard. That way you can just put the baseboard back on. If there is fibreglass insulation, they must pull it out and they will cut higher up into the wall to do this.