Winter Snow Damage---Homeowners Insurance

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Drover

I'd say this isn't really a "little thing" though -- logically speaking, you'd think the insurance company would be glad to replace damaged gutters because it will be cheaper to do that than to eventually eat a claim for damages to the house or foundation that would result if the gutters aren't fixed.

Agreed. I was referencing a prior post about those who file numerous small claims. The only thing in question with the gutters is how significant is the damage and what is the cost. If the cost is not much more than the deductible amount, and I could afford that outlay, I would not submit a claim. Heck, for me, I'm on the hook for the first grand anyway, so it's going to take something fairly significant to get to where I'm filing a claim. But even at $500 deductible, if it's $800 or something for repair, I'm not sure I'd be filing it. At $1000 or so for repair, then it's a more sure thing.

Basically it's weighing what the effect on my premiums would be from filing the claim. It's a little easier with the car insurance, actually. I don't know as much how to judge it with homeowners. But it feels like a couple hundred or so above the deductible amount I would probably just eat figuring that I could quickly be paying more than that in increased premiums.

[NCgum]

Because this weather event was labeled a catastrophe by insurance companies, they will not raise rates because so many people were affected.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Drover

At the risk of pointing out the obvious... why not just ask your insurance agent? (S)he'll be able to give you a more definitive answer than we could.

I am interested in other people's experiences. Like you, I clearly like to discuss topics on City-Data for the mere enjoyment. Plus, I don't even know my insurance agent. This policy is 30 years old. When we remortgaged the house 15 years ago, the insurance payments are made directly from the bank. I know it would be easy enough to find my agent since I know our insurance provider, but I'm not even sure if I want to go this route and I wanted to toss the idea around on here.

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I got water in my house like many others due to ice backing up in the gutters. Anyway, I have an adjuster coming out in a couple of weeks. My concern is about the water within the walls and not visible damage. On the surface, it seems as if the damage is relatively minor but who knows what happened inside the walls. My adjuster says he doesn't care about a moisture reading. I thought that would be pretty important. Anyway, my walls for the most part look okay but there was water pouring through them last week. Thoughts?

That's a tough one! Of course the adjuster is only interested in visible damage since his job is to save the insurance company money. It's up to you to find the damage. Since it has been so recent, it's not likely that you already have mold growing, but maybe you do. If you find you have more damage and mold growing at a later date, I would think that the insurance company would have to pay for it since it was caused by this incident. I'd call the insurance agent to find out if there are any time constraints. If so, I'd hire someone to investigate if there is more extensive damage than the adjuster is covering to prove to the insurance company that more damage exists.

Originally Posted by Drover

I'd say this isn't really a "little thing" though -- logically speaking, you'd think the insurance company would be glad to replace damaged gutters because it will be cheaper to do that than to eventually eat a claim for damages to the house or foundation that would result if the gutters aren't fixed.

They would likely say the damage to the house or foundation were the result of lack of maintenance. Just because they don't pay to replace the gutters doesn't mean that they don't expect the homeowner to replace them.

Originally Posted by greg42

But it feels like a couple hundred or so above the deductible amount I would probably just eat figuring that I could quickly be paying more than that in increased premiums.

I always felt this way. Even a thousand dollars over the deductible is within my range of not filing a claim. I'm starting to rethink this though.

Originally Posted by NCgum

Because this weather event was labeled a catastrophe by insurance companies, they will not raise rates because so many people were affected.

I would sure hope so! I suspect they will raise rates across the board though. As a result, it wouldn't matter if we claimed it because everyone's rates will be raised anyway.