Property Insurance Companies Claims

How do you file a claim for damage done to your property by someone else’s contractor?

For example, if a plumbing contractor working for an uphill neighbor knocked something out in a pipe causing sewage to come down onto your property?
Do you file with your own insurance company? Or do you have to file suit againts the neighbor and his contractor?

does a fully comp policy cover all damage, not only the car, but other damage caused ?

my wife’s car rolled down our drive and semi-demolished a large,block built shed / garage on our property, The insurance company (Elephant) are refusing to pay for the shed and are telling us to claim off our house insurance. If it was on someone elses property they would pay. I thought a fully comp policy covered all damage caused in an accident ?. Im i right in taking them to court ?

Insurance not paying claim but other companies are for the exact same damages?

I live in a city that was flooded this summer and part of the preventative efforts was constructing this monstrous secondary dike (which turned out they didn’t need). This dike was up to the second story of the homes that they put it against. It caused wall and windows to collapse and foundations to shift. I have flood and home owner insurance luckily my flood insurance paid for flood damages (anything the water touched) however my home owner insurance has denied my claim for the structural damages caused by the dike(garage wall collapsed, window shattered allowing part of the dike to sit in my living room, shifted support beams in basement, and all trees, retaining wall grass, fence all bull dozed). My neighbor same situation almost took his house out completely got paid for the damages caused by the dike he’s with State Farm. A friend who didnt have flood insurance but had damages caused by the flood got paid for damages due to basement backing up with water(cut the electricity and sewage backed up due to flood) hes with USAA. My guy at FARMERS UNION is saying that they wont pay b/c it was “flood related” not flood damage b/c its not but “flood related”. His advice was to wait the 3 or so years it will probably take to get a class action law suit going and try to collect from that. It seems to me that this can’t be the say all in this matter. Shouldn’t my insurance pay and if they want that money then they should be the ones to go after it? What steps do I take now? I still need a place to live with my family, now my property is completely destroyed and FARMERS UNION insurance could care less??? Whats the point of having insurance if they dont insure you??

Damage to my property caused by a negligent neighbour, and insurance company problems?

I live in the ground floor of a 2 storey mid-terraced house in West Lothian (that’s Scotland for all you non-UKers out there!) There is an extension with a flat roof to the back of my house, and 2 years ago, I noticed that there was some water staining to the ceiling. Knowing that flat roofs only have a limited lifespan, I paid a local builder £3000 to replace the roof with a new rubberised type which is meant to be more durable than the traditional felt.

A couple of weeks after completion, I had bubbled plasterwork in my hallway and water running down the walls. I called the builders back who discovered that the water ingress was due to my upstairs neighbour not maintaining her property. She had a part brick and part wood porch structure outside her front door which was in a shocking state – no guttering, holes in the roof and render falling off. The builders confirmed that the stone work and render was absolutely sodden, and rainwater was running down through the brickwork and into my property.

At this stage, I advised my neighbour of this, and she promised to get the problem rectified…and then did nothing. I chased and chased her for a year, getting nothing but a list of endless excuses and promises. I had to get Environmental Health involved as by this stage I had black, green and yellow mould growing on my walls, and about an inch of water on the floor everytime it rained. Environmental Health issued her with a Compulsory Order, giving her 6 weeks to rectify the problem. She ignored this, and Environmental Health did nothing when she breached the 6 week deadline. I decided to go down the legal route at this stage ( I know, I know, I should have done it way before then) and threatened the neighbour with legal action. This finally did the trick and she eventually hired a builder to knock down and replace the porch structure. He got as far as replacing the brick shed/cupboard part of it, and was due to come back and build on the uPVC porch part…but has disappeared without trace and with some of my neighbour’s money. However, by this stage, my property appeared to be dry – there didn’t seem to be any more water coming in, and the damp dissipated. At this stage, the insurance company (Halifax) agreed that their builders could begin the repairs on my house. They arrived today, removed the ceiling plasterboard…and discovered that the inside of my new roof is absolutely saturated, wet and black.

The foreman thinks that the insurance company will not cover the cost of this, as the other walls appear to be dry but the roof is wet, so he thinks the Halifax may try to claim that there is a different cause to the original water ingress, as this has now stopped/dried. I am horrified by this – it is blatantly still the same cause as before, and even if they try to insist it isn’t, surely I have proved that I have kept my property maintained (by, for instance, putting on a new £3k roof not even 2 years ago!)? Can they really refuse to pay out for this? (they didn’t pay out for the initial roof (I tried to claim retrospectively after discovering the cause of the damage was my neighbour’s negligence and not just wear and tear) as they hadn’t surveyed it prior to the work starting and therefore couldn’t be sure on the state of it beforehand, which was annoying but understandable).

As I stand at the moment, I could be faced with once again repairing/replacing a roof which is less than 2 years old, which has not been damaged due to my negligence, and which would probably be damaged again since my neighbour’s builder obviously hasn’t rectified the problem fully. Where do I stand on this (bearing in mind I am in Scotland and I think the law is slightly different here)? Is is likely that the insurance company will not pay out, and is there anyway I can compel my neighbour to get this sorted once and for all?

Thank you.

Jo

Would I still be covered if I cancel my insurance?

I was involved in an auto accident the first week of August. I was rear-ended & the other persons insurance company has accepted 100% liability, they called today wanting to settle on the property damages (my car was totaled) So after I do that the only thing left will be the bodily injury (which my doctor has set me up for physical therapy) so I know it want be settled for at least 8 weeks. I have heard that sometimes the medical bills are more than the other persons policy limits & I may have to file a claim with my own insurance in order to not pay out of pocket myself. Is this true? Reason I am asking is I was thinking of canceling my car insurance since car is totaled but if I cancel the insurance would I still be able to make a claim with them? Also let me add that I called my insurance company the day after it happened to let them know, I explained I would be filing on the other persons insurance, they said that was ok. I need advice. Thanks.
****GREAT answers so far…THANKS…but one more question, based on the opinions here I will NOT cancel my insurance b/c yes I do plan on getting another car SOON…after I set the new car up can I take the old car off and still be covered if I need anything from them based on the accident? Thanks.

should I hire a lawyer to handle my insurance claim?

my house burnt to the ground a week and a half ago, I was out of town and we lost everything we owned except some clothing. The fire marshal came out that night and told me that it was suspicious but the cause would probably never be determined. When I went in to see the insurance company they treated me like some kind of criminal, here I am having lost everything that I own. By the time I left I was just beside myself, they wanted to dig into every aspect of my life, they wanted me to go to the gambling boat and get a print out of how much money I have spent there. And they just kept saying, do you see why this doesn’t look good for you!!! Can they make me do things like that? They twisted around everything I said, THEN to top it off, he said that it would take a while to settle my claim becuase it was suspicious, when asked how long, he said, ” well it just depends on how much you turn in” Like if I don’t turn in all my personal property they will pay the claim!!
The fire marshall has ruled me out completely and the insurance company knows this, and the reason I am talking about a lawyer is to protect myself, not because they where “mean” to me. I just feel like they are on some kind of witch hunt so they don’t have to play the claim. They act like it is awful if I ask for anything, and I am just not sure of my rights, what I have to disclose to them (like the gambiling), I only spent $120 there, but it is just the whole point that thye can demand things and I have to jump through hoops, as does my family as they have all been interigated too.

what is the best insurance company to use for multiple rental properties in Georgia?

I am buying 5 properties and need to know which company understands rental properties, is cost-effective, and will be there when a claim is filed.

My car insurance denied other parties claim. What’s the chance of hers denying ours?

My husband was in a car accident last week. The lady pulled out of a Chevron parking lot & hit my husbands car. Clearly the accident was her fault. She pulled off of private property into oncoming traffic. My insurance company denied her claim, stating they believed the accident to be her fault. Now, what are our chances of her insurance company finding her at fault as well? We have been told they are furthering the investigation & will have an answer tomorrow. I’m anxious. Any answers or self experience please share! Thanks.
The cops were called. The dispatcher said they will not come to a seen of an accident if the airbags didn’t deploy or if there isn’t an injured person. She does have some nerve. I’m just worried her insurance company will find my husband at fault because she’s lying & saying he was at fault. No wittnesses, no police report, her word against his. It was his first accident. Next time he knows better & knows what to do. I’m holding onto the hope that because our insurance company found her at fault, hers will too??
Thanks everyone for your answers. Just got word from the insurance company, they are taking 100% of the liability!! Thank goodness.