I know that there’s always either an expert on here or someone who knows way more than I do so here’s the situation:
Our house was built in 1997 and we moved here in 2004 (we are the second owner). We were having some wood replaced near garage door and the contractors pointed out more wood rot. They took down more siding and some stonework in that area and we can see that it is just crumbling. They said it is likely due to the fact that water got in due to (probable) wind damage from the siding that was not visible from the ground and over time, water kept getting in and causing the rot. But there is no real way of knowing what the actual cause is. We are waiting to hear cost, but it won’t be cheap.
Two questions:
1 - Is this generally something that would be covered by insurance? We have always been SO cautious about making a claim after hearing horror stories about people making one or two claims and then getting their policies canceled so we have never made a claim for this property or our previous home ( we have been clients of this company for over 30 years.)
2 - Is there a way that we should approach our agent about this - specific wording that would make it more likely to be an approved claim?
Thank you, hive mind!
Read your policy. I highly doubt it would be covered.
We were replacing our siding and discovered that same situation: wood rot. The siding company had in their the contract that any rot beyond “normal” rot around the windows would be dealt with on a labor plus materials hourly fee basis. A wall of rot was fixed, and we only paid an extra $500.
Definitely read your policy. If you aren’t sure, you can talk to your agent without filing a claim until you are sure you want to do so. And yes, you are wise not to file unless you are sure. We are among those whose company dropped us when we filed 2 claims for a similar thing within a 13 month period. I would never do that again knowing what I know now. I would only file a claim if the damage was catastrophic enough to cost way more than the deductible to fix (for example, a fire or a giant tree falling on the house).
Rot caused by deferred maintenance or pests is usually excluded (while a young family left for vacation, a squirrel fell into the house through a chimney and gnawed every piece of wood imaginable trying to get out… nope, not covered ‘cause squirrels are pests).
My point is that while rot might look horrible, it does not take a whole lot of $$ to fix unless the roof is about to fall in. I would avoid risking my coverage for that. If your siding people tell you it costs an arm and a leg, shop around. It should not be super expensive. They know you are on the hook already…
Even if you are not dropped, we found that our rates went up after our claim for a water leak. So you end up paying for a repair over time. I agree that it is best to save claims for large repairs.
Good advice…thank you all. You mostly confirmed my concerns about not filing a claim unless it was truly catastrophic. Though we still haven’t gotten the final amount for the work, these guys have done other projects for us and are trustworthy and their prices have always been fair. Fingers crossed that it isn’t too terrible (especially since we also found out that we have to replace an HVAC system this week. It never rains, but it pours!
Each state has different insurance regulations. In Texas, your policy cannot be non-renewed unless you file three non-weather claims within a three-year period, and the insurance company has to send you a letter after the second one to advise that you could be dropped if you file a third one within the time frame.
We got our home owner’s insurance involved for damage of a leak and that’s how we found a repair company. When it came to filing the claim we chose not to because the amount was within our (higher) deductible and it would have potentially affected our future rates with AAA. Rates unaffected- just got the renewal rates.
btw- so much harder to get home owner’s insurance here in Florida. A few years ago we decided to see if we could find lower rates with another company and contacted an agency. Discovered our still in good shape roof was older than 15 years and therefore companies would not accept us as new clients. Just last month we had an excellent roofer looking at our roof for ventilation (the AC repair guy thought it was lacking- hot in the attic space), he determined it was adequate and we won’t need a roof replacement for a few more years either. Imagine the waste of replacing a roof so often. we’ll wait until needed or selling if that comes first. Very different in Wisconsin. btw- why bother with long lasting shingles here?
The ongoing home maintenance involved with home ownership makes us start thinking of not owning our next place when we move as approaching being elderly and not just old.
