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Greg Cuetara
04-16-2008, 8:37 PM
I live in the Northeast up in Maine and we had a fairly tough winter. We got over 100 in. of snow. I ended up shoveling off my roof 4 to 5 times with a few feet of snow each time. I was able to walk up the snowbank onto my roof.

The snow melted and then we would get rain and then it would freeze overnight then we would get more snow...I ended up having about 6-12in of ice in my gutters. I tried to keep up with clearing them out but I didn't do so well. I got up on a ladder with an ax etc. trying to chip the ice out...that didn't work so well and I didn't get too far. Anywho the water backed up and went into my sheathing (osb crap...) and now it is soaked. BTW the only location that I can actually see the sheathing is in the garage which is the location of this problem. I have no idea if there are other problems around the house where I can't see the sheathing. I had the insurance guy come out and he said that since I don't have soffet vents in the garage it can't 'breath' and it isn't their problem. The sheathing / trusses are open to below, the walls are insulated but the garage is not heated. Please confirm this is a problem and should be covered by the insurance.

I also had a number of cracks in my drywall which the insurance says they will pay to fix. Another problem with my walls is that I have had a lot of nails popping out of the drywall. This has never happened for the previous 5 years I have been in the house. I spoke with a contractor and he said that can happen when moisture gets within the walls and swells the studs and pushs the nails out. Can this happen? I was half thinking it was due to the snow on the roof causing movement within the walls etc. My ceiling deflected down probably an inch or two before I was able to get the snow off. I have a huge crack going across my ceiling at this location which needs to be fixed also.

My last problem is that when I pushed snow off my roof a lot of it went onto my deck. One of the supports did not have a 'foundation' and the soil failed and settled over 4". The support was a bunch of 2x material layed on its side down to the ground. This was obviously not built to any code. Will the insurance cover this even though it was not originally built to code?

I have never put in a claim to my insurance company. How will this really affect my premiums? I heard something that if you are in the house less than 5 years it will affect you more than if you are in longer than 5 years. We will have lived here for 5 years in Sept. We are looking to try and sell the house soon so this work will need to be done in order to sell. I have a contractor coming out next week to give me an estimate to fix all the 'damage'.

Just looking for some advice from those who have been around the block a few more times than me. I know there are a lot out there with good experience and advice.

Thanks,
Greg

David G Baker
04-16-2008, 9:04 PM
It is a standard policy for insurance companies to find any way they can to deny every claim that they can get away with. This is my opinion from my personal experiences with them. Get an opinion from and expert and if the damage is substantial document it and get an attorney and fight the company. They take advantage of our inexperience and give us a bunch of mumbo jumbo and try to make us believe that we do not have a claim.
The damage done to buildings during the Los Angles earthquake was very expensive, several nationally known insurance companies conspired with the California State Insurance Commissioner at the time to not pay millions of dollars in honest and justifiable claims. They got caught.

Joe Chritz
04-16-2008, 11:00 PM
I just had a conversation with my company on a claim.

If I have two claims in a 3 year period my premiums go up in the way of a surcharge. Less than that and there is no increase. The amount it goes up depends on the cause of damage and how much.

I have a sump failure with about 5K paid out and it didn't raise my premiums. If I claim the $900 is stuff snatch from my driveway it will raise my premium $180 dollars for this renewal and maybe the next depending on when it is.

Moisture can cause nail pops by swelling the wood then leaving an airgap when it dries back out. Same thing that happens when the wood dries originally, thats why the installers are supposed to use adhesive.

You will have to call the insurance people and make them call the underwriters with your history to get an accurate quote.

Joe

Stephen Beckham
04-16-2008, 11:19 PM
Greg - not sure here but my two experiences as of late...

1) Foundation failure due to original footers not correct. Not covered - foundations, footers or braces failing are due to natural settling. Even thought it was due to the heavy rains that cause the failure.

2) Roof failure during recent tornado. First adjuster said not covered -missing shingles not enough to cause new roof - I threw the red flag, got a second adjuster and he said the first guy was a storm chasing crook. Pointed out several different types of failure in several different locations. Since the roof is only five years old from last storm damage, Insurance Co tried to claim faulty installation so it's not covered, I'd have to claim warranty against installer. Second red flag - got that cleared...

Now they are trying to claim the damage noticed by the second guy was new damage and they would replace the roof, but now I owe two deductables since it was two different storms. Threw another red flag and they agreed it was only one storm system, but possibly two different incidents from the same storm - one was the tornado and the other was straight line winds prior to or after the tornado... But it's still one storm system and one claim...

Bottom line - they may try to blame workmanship during deck install - not covered. They may try to claim footer failure - not covered. They may try to claim snow as "flood" or "water" damage and you may not be covered. Keep on them and make sure you don't get one answer from one person - ask for a second opinion...

Steve

Joe Pelonio
04-17-2008, 8:10 AM
I remember a while back reading about when insurance companies will raise your rates. #1 was a claim for something that could have been prevented by you with maintenance or upgrades. I know of cases where a claim for something not up to code was paid eventually, when the work was done prior to the person buying it. The insurance company could even sue the inspector who failed to report it on the sale of the home.

If you did the work yourself and it was not up to code a claim would be denied, and they could even force you to bring it up to code in order to keep your policy once they know about it. (probably not for a deck)

Tom Godley
04-17-2008, 1:42 PM
Water damage can create a difficult claim depending on the type of policy involved.


Normally when you have an ice dam situation you should be covered for all the damage. Then again the roof structure should be able to get wet for a short period of time without being damaged.

Did the weather/depth of snow create a situation where the roof was wet for an extended period of time with you being unable to do anything about it?

Or was the water actually trapped some how? Normally, if it is insulated the batts hold the water anyway?


Often policies have a clause for multi claims in three or five years. I myself always get the best coverage policy with a very high deductible. Some of the the companies -- like CHUBB -- In three years you have saved enough for the deductible.

Insurance companies hate the small claims because of the relative cost -- Then again they hate the big ones too :)

Jeffrey Makiel
04-17-2008, 2:39 PM
If you did the work yourself and it was not up to code a claim would be denied

Like automobile insurance, I thought homeowner insurance was about negligence too. Sort of like the story of the guy falling asleep on the couch while smoking.

If this is true, which I don't doubt these days, it is indeed another slippery slope.

-Jeff :)

David G Baker
04-17-2008, 6:16 PM
Greg,
If you get a new roof, put two rows of ice shield around your edges and do the same at the peak.

Chris Padilla
04-17-2008, 6:22 PM
Greg,
If you get a new roof, put two rows of ice shield around your edges and do the same at the peak.

Actually, insulate your home from your attic/roof much better to prevent any melting snow. A properly insulated roof shouldn't allow snow to melt in the first place so that ice damns don't form.

Either way, sorry for all this, Greg. It must be great stress in your life right now I imagine.

David G Baker
04-17-2008, 8:19 PM
I agree with Chris on the insulation problem allowing heat melting the snow causing the ice to form.
My house still has ice problems due to less than adequate insulation in the attic. I thought that my new roof and improved air circulation in the attic would take care of the ice damn problem, it helped but not enough. I should have had the old insulation replaced while the roof was open, now it will be much more of a pain and expense.

Rick Moyer
04-17-2008, 9:14 PM
Possibly more bad news for you: If you do turn in a large claim, it may be difficult to secure homeowner's insurance in the future; both for you in a subsequent home, as well as for a prospective buyer for your current home, thereby making it more difficult to sell your current home. This seems to be a growing trend in insurance practices in the wake of all the claims since Katrina, etc.

Good luck with whatever you have to do.

Disclaimer: I am not an insurance professional nor a real estate professional. Statements made are from hearsay from those professionals.

Greg Cuetara
04-17-2008, 9:58 PM
Actually, insulate your home from your attic/roof much better to prevent any melting snow. A properly insulated roof shouldn't allow snow to melt in the first place so that ice damns don't form.

Either way, sorry for all this, Greg. It must be great stress in your life right now I imagine.

Thus far it is not very much of a stress...with that being said I am just getting into it and I am sure it will be more stressful as I get further along the process. Currently my garage is unheated and just the walls are insulated. Should the ceiling be insulated? If I insulate the ceiling I would think I have to put in soffet vents etc. I was thinking that one of those strip wavy heaters would be the best way to go but not sure how well they work. The biggest problem was that we would get snow, then get rain, then get warm weather then it would go to 0 deg for a week then it would warm up and rain then more snow etc. and all of that warm and cold and rain and snow caused the ice more than the actual roof warming up.

Tom the water was trapped because I had a few feet of snow on my roof and there was a 12" tall brick of ice at the edge. I tried to keep up with the snow and tried to only let a few feet build up at a time but we had a horrendious winter.

One more question for those who know more about houses than I. If I can see this damage in one location should I be ripping apart some drywall to see if there is damage in other locations which are not visible?

Thanks for all the advice. I will make sure I keep on top of the insurance company.
Greg