Water damage claim stories, a little humor for your day

Water damage claim stories, a little humor for your day. These short water damage claim stories are a few of my favorites. While they are funny now, however; back then it was sad. Because they all are completely true. They are from some of the claims I dealt with over the years when I worked restoration for the insurance companies.

Water damage claim stories, a little humor for your day

Water damage claim story #1

Damages caused by you and not by water damage, can result in denial of certain damages or even your insurance claim.

You also have a responsibility to prevent unnecessary damages, like turning off the water to a leaking pipe.

Water damage claim stories, a little humor for your day

Damages caused by you

A lady spilled water in her living room, wetting the carpet and padding underneath. It was a small section in the center of the room. The water was clean and the carpet was completely salvageable.

I arrived to find she had taken a knife and cut the wet section of the carpet out. Of course, this damaged the carpet beyond repair.

Under these circumstances the insurance company does not have to replace the carpet

Under these circumstances the insurance company does not have to replace the carpet. She caused the actual damage and not the water.

To my disbelief, this lady was not concerned about the carpet. She cut the carpet as thought the spilled water would buckle and shrink the concrete underneath.

She insisted, the insurance company dig up her concrete floor and replace it.

I asked her if it ever rained on her driveway? I pointed out that her concrete driveway is the same material as her floor. Her driveway does not shrink from rain, just like her concrete floor will not shrink from spilled water.

She continued to insist her floor will shrink.

In the end, she did not get a new floor, nor new carpet.

Keep reading so you can be knowledgeable about your claim, or at least have a good laugh.

Water damage claim story #2

This second story is an example of a homeowner calling a contractor themselves before contacting their insurance company. They definitely didn’t check reviews before hiring this plumber.

Plumber with a digging problem

I arrived at a customer’s home on a water damage call. When I got there the customer was very upset.

The plumber she called, knocked three large holes in the walls and seven more large holes in the concrete floor of her living room.

He made these holes to look for the water leak, which he still had not found by the time we arrived.

Needless to say, we removed him from the job.

When the plumber recommended by the insurance adjuster arrived, he found the leak in five minutes. It was a pipe break, on the other side of the wall.

Always check reviews before you hire anyone. Your insurance company should have a list of qualified contractors you can use.

Water damage claim stories, a little humor for your day.

Water damage claim story #3

This third story is about trying to get more than you deserve.

Wanting more

When I arrived at this home, every room, except the kitchen, had water flooding the floor from a pipe break.

The drywall was installed correctly, just off the floor. Therefore, the walls did not get wet, only the baseboards.

The home had a bad odor when we arrived. The carpet was very dirty, and stunk now that it was wet.

Before my team could remove the water. We had to shovel trash off the carpet in every room. There were even chicken bones on the kitchen table with mold on them.

One of the neighbors made the comment that the flood was the best thing that ever happened to this house. So, you can understand how bad it was.

Dry out and repair

We removed the water and dried everything out. We replaced the carpet, put in new padding, and bathroom cabinets.

The marks on the wall were pre-existing and not caused by the water. Despite this, the adjuster gave her the benefit of the doubt and approved painting the walls. The place looked brand new.

One week later she called, complaining of an odor. We immediately went back out to check the house.

The house smelled new because of the fresh paint, new carpet and cabinets. It was the smell of clean and fresh.

I explained to her it was just the smell of the new materials and that the “new” smell will go away soon. Similar to a new car smell.

It then became obvious she was trying to scam the adjuster. She complained the odor was coming from water under the kitchen cabinets. Facts are, the kitchen was the only room that did not get wet.

Even though the adjuster was nice about approving the unwarranted paint job, he was not happy about the  blatant attempt at deception.

Thanks for stopping by, if any of my information was of help to you, please help me back by leaving a short comment that it was helpful. This will help my FREE website grow and continue to help others. Thank You.

Visit my YouTube channel