This morning I got up and found my wife desk full of water and her computer full of water. The computer is shot and now I have a leak in the roof. Luckly its in the room that was added to the house so its not the main part. The point is that this is my first house and I have never had to deal with claims. I need to buy my wife a new laptop but should I wait to speak to a claim specialist and also does house insurance cover repairing a leak in your roof? I know this may be a stupid question but I have never done this before. Thanks.

 

I would recommend NOT calling your agent or anyone else at the insurance company and even asking about a claim or a "what if?" A note will go into your file that may come back to haunt you later. Save your insurance for catastrophic claims, i.e. serious storm, fire, significant water damage. Some insurers even have a caller ID type thing that will log that a call came from your number.

Also, insurance isn't a warranty service, so unless the water leak was caused by a covered loss, i.e. storm damage, lightning, sinkhole, then your insurer won't pay to fix your roof.

Since you had the room added, it sounds like faulty construction, which will als not be covered.

Contact the contractor that did the addition and tell them about the leak and the damage. You might get somewhere with them.

I know it's not the answer you want, but the damage just doesn't sound significant enough to make a claim. Save the claims for when it reall counts. You don't want to make too many claims and find yourself in a position with no insurance or unaffordable insurance.

One more thing, if you bought your computer with a credit card, some cards warranty the purchases, so you may have some remedy there.

 

I had a leak in my roof once. The insurance company paid for all the damage IN the house. (carpet, sheet rock, etc.) but WOULD NOT cover fixing the roof!

I agree with the last poster, don't tell them. I had great service from my company until the claims that they had paid to me equaled the money I had paid to them. Now I can't even get them on the phone.

 

OH ok thanks I had called this morning but I just spoke with a answering service person and they told me they would call me tom. they gave me a claim number. What happens when they record your phone number? Its so aggrevating that you pay so much in insurance and then you cant get anything from them. I understand I should save it for a big issue thanks. So now what should I do about the claim tom. should I just say that it was not a roof leak and one of the kids confessed to spilling a cup that was on my wife computer full of water?

 

If you have a claim number, it's a little too late. There is a record of a claim, regardless of whether any money was paid.

Right now, you can choose to not pursue a claim. You also need to consider the deductible vs. the cost of replacement of the computer and repair of the home.

Texasscout is right, the insurance company will likely pay for the computer and any incidental damages relating to water damage, but they won't pay to repair the roof, which will be the most costly aspect.

Call the contractor that added the room and let them know. Try to have them fix it under warranty. If they won't, get a couple of contractors out there to give you a repair estimate. Also, find out what it will cost to replace the computer.

Yes, it's awful that we pay premiums and can't use insurance for every little thing, but they insurance companies have a right to "fire" you as a customer if you cost them too much or become a higher claim risk.

And this is a little off topic, but some insurers even use your credit rating to determine your insurance premiums. Theay reason that someone with poor credit will likely make more claims or cause more claims to be made because of their actions.

 

Thanks guys so now that I have the claim number will that hurt me? The addition was already there when we bought the house. Is there some kind of warranty a new homeowner has when someone buys a house from someone? It has not been a year yet. Anyways thanks again for your comments.

 

It would be better to not have a claim number, but what's done is done.

Sometimes a home seller will provide a warranty wit the sale of the house. Did you have an inspection done? Someone else may bear some responibility for not identifying a problem with the construction. But, you are getting into lawsuit territory there.

Sometimes, crap happens and you just have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

Get some estimate of the repair work and to replace your computer. Luckily, it's not going to rain for a week or so.

 

yea i bought a home warranty but i dont know what that covers. Does that only cover the appliances and things.

 

It was so much better when you had an apartment in new york.....lol All we did was call the super and he came and fixed things. Now I have my wife calling me and I dont know ****.

 

I do insurance for a living and I can tell you that you should have gone to your home warranty first and not the insurance. Your home warranty is made for situations just like this. Your wife's computer is probably not a total loss either. Probably just a fried power supply. The thing that triggers insurance coverage is a covered peril(fire, lightning, wind, hail). Which one of these perils caused the loss? Call your home warranty provider.

 

They will cover the roof leak damage?

 

It's not called a "Home Warranty" for nothing.

 

Good gawd--we are all in the business. Sheesh.

Anyway, your policy of insurance covers damage TO YOUR ROOF IF IT WAS CAUSED BY A COVERED PERIL. Meaning, if lightening struck your roof and damaged the tiles/shingles, then your roof is covered. If a tree falls and damages your roof, the roof is covered. RESULTING DAMAGE FROM THE WATER INTRUSION IS COVERED AND WELL. However, if there is roof damage because of faulty construction or previous repair, that is not covered by the policy, just the resulting damage from the water intrusion.

Make sense yet?

Either way, pull out your home warranty stuff and read it to see what is indeed covered. If you purchased your home new, then likely the builder has some repairs to make. If you need to replace your stuff now, or take corrective repairs, photograph and document everything first...

 

Can you say proximate cause, lol. CIC, AAI here.

 

rofl. I've always worked so hard, I've never had time! That being said, I probably have 4 feet of caselaw, various seminar stuff and at least 3 of the CPIC texts in my office!

Maybe one day...