1. CGC# 059274
WHERE DID THE WATER COME FROM?
Terminology can sometimes be misleading. What might appear to you to be a flood in your
home, might actually be termed a “Water Loss” by your insurance carrier, and the difference
might well be a denied claim, or a covered loss.
Recent heavy rains in Florida, accompanied by strong winds have created a greater awareness of
terminology with regards to water claims from any source. If you factor in the fact that the EPA
and the IICRC have broken water into three categories, 1, 2, and 3, and established different
protocols for each category of water, a person can easily be confused.
When it comes to insurance, it is possible that you have a windstorm policy, a homeowner’s
policy and a flood policy for your home, have an event where rising water floods your home
from the outside, and still you could wind up with no coverage for the resulting damages. The
claims person that you talk with regarding your loss might not have the right answers, or
interpret your responses to their questions and draw the wrong conclusion. This could result in
your claim being denied for an inaccurate statement.
As a General Contractor that has been in the property restoration business for more than 15
years, I have seen many situations where the cause of a water loss has been misdiagnosed, and
coverage issues have been based upon inaccurate information. As a contractor, we cannot
determine coverage issues, but we can make accurate assessments of damages, and we often
determine the cause of a water loss. Only yesterday, we were at a home that had interior damage
due to wind driven rain through a few small cracks in a stucco wall. The assigned adjuster did
not have a moisture meter, and was not able to determine if there was any damage to their home,
as no damage was visible. The assigned adjuster advised the owner to hire a leak detection
company. The leak detection company did not find any damage, or a leak. They charged the
property owner their “leak detection” fee, and left.
In this particular case, the owner smelled mold when she opened a kitchen cabinet drawer. The
walls next to the kitchen, and under the bay windows, were found to be wet, when we did our
moisture mapping.
After our investigation, we suggested to the owner that we remove a particular piece of
baseboard, feeling pretty confident that there was a wet wall and mold growth that would be
discovered. The owner agreed to the baseboard removal, and low and behold, there was a major
mold condition, and a wet wall.
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