flood history (plumber, toilets, cost, pipes)

[princesssweett]

I live in houston and I'm trying to find out if anyone knows how I can find out the flood history of my house.

[golfgal]

FloodSmart.gov: Your premier resource for flood insurance information

I don't know about 'history' but you can select "what is your flood risk" here and type in your address. It will show you what your risk is--low, medium, high.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by princesssweett

I live in houston and I'm trying to find out if anyone knows how I can find out the flood history of my house.

I believe you can order a ChoicePoint report. This will tell you all of the insurance claims on that particular house.

Beyond that, a plumber should be able to look at the house for you and tell you if they see any evidence of flood (a bug company can be helpful for this as well...they know how to spot moisture areas).

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by riveree

I believe you can order a ChoicePoint report. This will tell you all of the insurance claims on that particular house.

Beyond that, a plumber should be able to look at the house for you and tell you if they see any evidence of flood (a bug company can be helpful for this as well...they know how to spot moisture areas).

Choicepoint will have a limited history, 7 years or so. Also, if it was a claim through FEMA it won't show up there so a true FLOOD claim won't be there usually.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Choicepoint will have a limited history, 7 years or so. Also, if it was a claim through FEMA it won't show up there so a true FLOOD claim won't be there usually.

So what would you use Golfgal? Is there another report you can order?

This is the only one I knew of. If it's only the last 7 years or so, that's not ideal, but I guess 7 years is better than nothing (and of course, if there was a flood that was unreported, it's not going to show there anyway).

Most floods wouldn't be reported to FEMA unless it was disaster-related (a plumbing issue would be more common and that would go through the homeowner's insurance).

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by riveree

So what would you use Golfgal? Is there another report you can order?

This is the only one I knew of. If it's only the last 7 years or so, that's not ideal, but I guess 7 years is better than nothing (and of course, if there was a flood that was unreported, it's not going to show there anyway).

Most floods wouldn't be reported to FEMA unless it was disaster-related (a plumbing issue would be more common and that would go through the homeowner's insurance).

I don't know of any other report that would give you the full history of any house like Carfax does for a car. Even if there were such a thing, not everything would be on there because not everyone files insurance claims to fix problems.

Plumbing issues are not floods. If you are talking just straight water damage, you will have to get that information from the owners of the house. You can also have an inspection done and specifically ask them to look for previous water damage. Not all owners will be truthful and depending on the laws in your state/city they may not have to disclose anything about the past history of the house.

[riveree]

I had it happen once where a handyman service messed up a simple plumbing job and flooded my house - bad .

Luckily, they were insured so everything was covered by them. It cost a little over $4k to get everything back to normal and it is fine (has been checked and rechecked - no lasting issues).

If a ChoicePoint report was pulled on the house, I was told this claim would show (even though it was not my own insurer). I haven't pulled a ChoicePoint to see though.

I learned my lesson - I hire a plumber now for even the simplest little plumbing job .

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by riveree

I had it happen once where a handyman service messed up a simple plumbing job and flooded my house - bad .

Luckily, they were insured so everything was covered by them. It cost a little over $4k to get everything back to normal and it is fine (has been checked and rechecked - no lasting issues).

If a ChoicePoint report was pulled on the house, I was told this claim would show (even though it was not my own insurer). I haven't pulled a ChoicePoint to see though.

I learned my lesson - I hire a plumber now for even the simplest little plumbing job .

Maybe if you pulled a Choicepoint on the handyman unless you filed through your insurance company and then they went after the company of the handyman. It would show that you had a claim but you were not at fault basically. Again, in insurance terms, a flood is cause by ground water or flowing water, like a river or a flood. Your claim would be listed under water damage. Water damage in your home from leaky pipes, overflowing toilets, faulty water dispensers on a fridge, etc. are covered under your homeowners policy, flooding is not.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Maybe if you pulled a Choicepoint on the handyman unless you filed through your insurance company and then they went after the company of the handyman. It would show that you had a claim but you were not at fault basically. Again, in insurance terms, a flood is cause by ground water or flowing water, like a river or a flood. Your claim would be listed under water damage. Water damage in your home from leaky pipes, overflowing toilets, faulty water dispensers on a fridge, etc. are covered under your homeowners policy, flooding is not.

Hmm, I was told it would be on the house itself - regardless of whose insurance company was used (it was a mark on the house for having any kind of claim).

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by riveree

Hmm, I was told it would be on the house itself - regardless of whose insurance company was used (it was a mark on the house for having any kind of claim).

No, those reports are on the PERSON, not the home. If you pull a report on yourself and you filed a claim at two different houses then they would show up on your report. If you pulled a report on the people that live in your old house and they haven't filed any claims nothing will show up. I think who ever told you this was thinking more along the lines of carfax and the accident/repair history of a car. Since that is all tracked by VIN number it is easy to do. Even the Choicepoint report on a person shows accidents for that person/car but if you sold the car to someone else those claims don't show up on Choicepoint for that car or the old accidents.