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Posts Tagged ‘damage’

My mobile home caught on fire but only one room was destroyed.The rest of the house,about 90 %, sustained smoke damage. What would happen to the home? Would it be mine or the insurance company’s?

Answer:

They will compare the ‘insured value’ of the home and the cost of repair.

If they believe the repair cost exceeds the value, they will ‘total’ it and pay you the ‘insured value’ (which may be a lot less than the replacement cost).

The damaged property is then owned by the insurance company.

However what are they going to do with a half wreaked house/car etc ? = it’s a real pain for them (sorting ownership documents, selling at auction etc) so almost ALL will offer you the chance to ‘buy out’ their interest in the property by taking a lower ‘value’ pay-out ..

Often you will find the ‘value’ you get will be more than enough to do your own repairs (assuming you put in a lot of your own effort and only pay for specialist for things you can’t do yourself)

My neighbor has water damage to the outside of her home and big notches in the wood paneling, and also an unpainted home. I want her to do something about it because it reduces the value of my home. How can I notify her insurance company so she has to maintain the outside of her home?

Answer:

You ask her who her insurance is with so you can call them.

There is no public database with this information.

Answer:

Depends on the type of policy you have.

Some policies are replacement cost. This pays for the cost of a new stove similar to your existing stove. It will not pay the complete cost of an upgrade. But you can take the money and apply it toward an upgrade if you wish.

Some policies are actual cash value. That means they take depreciation. It will pay the cost of a new stove less deprecation.

In either case, your deductible will apply.

You should give your agent a call on money or go by his/her office and ask them. Since they can see the details of your policy – your agent will be your best source of information.

Answer:

You’ll need to check your individual insurance policy, but if you have got accidental damage, then it’s likely that you are covered. But, as per the answer below, you’ll need to check your policy excess. £100 excess is quite standard, and you may lose a no claims discount. For the best advice, ring your claims helpline.

My neighbours washing machine leaked water through to my ceiling casing damage to the ceiling, wall, and carpet plus belongings etc.

My insurance company have told me that I need to pay an excess charge of £75.00.

Why should I be paying this when it was caused by the neighbour above?

Answer:

Unfortunately, most insurance policies carry excesses, and if you are claiming under your policy then the excess will stand, irrespective of fault. It is a standard condition of your policy.

However, there is a principle in insurance called “subrogation”. If it can be proved that another insured party is responsible for your damage, then your insurers can seek to recover their losses from the other party, and your excess can be recovered in the same way.

I suggest you take this up with your insurers or your broker. In the meantime you will be expected to pay your excess.

If you don’t have a broker and would like some help, please feel free to drop me an email.

like for4 not mowing the lawn or leaving the trash cans out. What does home insurance pay for?

Answer:

NO. It does not pay for fines. Homeowner’s insurance pays for loss such as fire damage (not arson by owner), hail damage, theft, etc. There is also a deductible, which is the amount you have to pay out of your pocket before the insurance pays, so if you had a 0 deductible, the insurer would only pay for covered losses above the first 0.

Fines are out of your own pocket … it’s a lot cheaper to just mow or hire a neighbor kid to mow for you.

Answer:

How are we to know? Do you have replacement cost coverage on your homeowners policy? Do you have a voltage endorsement? The standard homeowners policy doesn’t include replacement – you have to pay extra for it.

Also, the standard homeowners covers damage from artifically generated electrical currents, but NOT loss to tubes, transistors, or similar electronic components. Which, frankly, are MOST of where your damages are going to be.

cutting grass a rock flew out from under the lawn mower knocking three small holes in the siding of my house. i just need to replace three strips of siding so bees and other bugs don’t nest inside the siding causing a larger problem.

Answer:

I doubt it. Most likely your deductible is probably 0 or 0 and you can probably get this fixed for less than that. You or your signifigant other can probably help you do it as it really isn’t that hard if you ahve some siding available. Just go on-line and look for how to do it or buy a “how to” book that has it in it. If you don’t have any left over, see if you can order only a few pieces from who ever put it on your house. They may have some left over from an old job that you can buy. If not, you will probably need to order an entire box which will quickly cost more than your deductible and you’ll have a lot of siding left over to store for future mis-haps.

Hi, I found a couple of termites in my house and can I just let them destroy the house so that I could claim the insurance or is that not allowed?

Answer:

Nope, you would be out of a house. Why would you want to live in a place that is infested by bugs?

Answer:

The mortgage company has the right to buy insurance on your behalf and force you to pay for it if you leave your home uninsured. The insurance they buy will not be cheap and won’t have good coverage.

Also if something happens to the house and it was uninsured you would be responsible for the damage.

I would speak to some legal adviser before I do something like this. There may be much better ways to get out of the situation you are in.