Apartment Flood - Insurance claim help/advice

Gilbert0

Had one of the main water pipes in my apartment burst and leave a couple inches of water all over everything. My apartment complex ihas said it's NOT our fault (inside wall) and is already paying for cleanup / new drywall / new floors, carpets (contractors come Monday) but I need to go through my insurance to claim for my things and a place to stay while it's getting cleaned up. I've started the claim process with my insurance for my belonings/furniture that have been damaged.

Anyone gone through water damage claims before with any advice? Anything we should do to make it easier / get more money?

We have pictures of everything. Stuff is drying out. How much damage is enough damage to get stuff replaced? (like the bottom of a bookshelf, stuff is ok on it, but it sat in some water)

Liquid Hellz

Since the apt complex has already admitted fault they should be paying the deductible for your insurance. This is something you can speak with the insurance adjuster when he gets there, ask him if they are going the subrogate the claim to the apt complexes insurance. If you can, get receipts for everything of yours that has been ruined by the damage. When this happened to me the insurance company tried to low-ball me and write me a check for much less then the actual cost of the repairs/items were. Also, a lot of things can be dried out and returned to previous condition depending on how long the water was leaking. If it was leaking for more than a week or two and went unnoticed your going to want to keep an eye out for mold.

How much damage is enough damage to get stuff replaced? (like the bottom of a bookshelf, stuff is ok on it, but it sat in some water)

This depends on your deductible, if your $2000 flat screen TV is ruined and your deductible is only $1000 then you want to file a claim. If your deductible is more then all of the damaged items, you may as well just pay to replace them out of pocked and forget the insurance money all together.

soxbox

Gilbert0 wrote: »

We have pictures of everything. Stuff is drying out. How much damage is enough damage to get stuff replaced? (like the bottom of a bookshelf, stuff is ok on it, but it sat in some water)

Is the shelf warped at all (even minor warping, especially if it's made of reconstituted timber) then that should be enough to get it covered. Once you're over the threshold of your deductible, fight and fight and fight for everything to get fixed. Unless they can point to specific wording in your policy to exclude something, don't let them exclude it. Nothing is minor.

Also, make sure that none of the tradesmen leave their work without doing cleanup. It's the hard boring bit of most trades so they'll try and move on without doing it - they're not done until it's clean, so don't agree to let them leave. (This is probably a lot harder since you're renting at anything the tradesmen are doing won't be directly under your control, so just make sure that you report anything to your landlord as soon as possible so it doesn't end up becoming your responsibility).

Xaquin

Get it in writing that the apt. complex is taking the blame.