How much are you paying for ServiceMaster or ServPro this time?

[Anonymous]

Ok so what type of coverage covers flood in your house/water damage?
i'd like to pay the premium for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok so what type of coverage covers flood in your house/water damage?
i'd like to pay the premium for it.

https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/residential_coverage/homeowner.jsp
Flood insurance but there is like a 30 day waiting period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've actually been through this twice and filed a claim both times--once 8 years ago and once about a year ago. The first was a parts failure in an upstairs toilet that left water running throughout our house (through the vents) all day while we were at work. Our ceilings were on the floor when we got home. The second was a parts failure in our washing machine in the basement, which flooded our finished basement.

I don't remember how much ServiceMaster cost exactly because our insurance paid them directly. I think it was around $1500 for the second incident, and more for the first, which was 3 levels of water mitigation. They bring in the massive fans and dehumidifiers. They rip up carpeting and padding--and then come back to inspect it 24 and 48 hours later to determine whether it's totaled (looking for mold growth). They test for moisture in drywall with equipment and cut out pieces of drywall if they find moisture, and then direct fans into the space. They follow up on the conditions to determine how long the fans should stay. They also come to your house any time of day or night (though its sounds like you're past that point). On the first occasion, they arrived at 9:30pm and were there until 5am. They were very responsible and professional both times.

Insurance covered everything for both incidents. New flooring, contractors for drywall repair and painting, reimbursed for ruined furniture, etc. They obviously don't cover whatever caused the problem in the first place, i.e, the parts failure. Our rates did not noticeably rise. Our insurance is through USAA.

Did you have flood/extra water coverage with USAA?

No, we have a standard policy.

[Anonymous]

I am one of the PPs who had it covered, and we also are with USAA. I don't know if we have a sump pump clause, but our flooding was due to sump pump failure.

[Anonymous]

Family in NoVa had a sump pump installed to fix the problem of a basement leak if it flooded nearby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Insurance almost never covers water.

It is absolutely worth it to call in professionals. We found mold around the perimeter of our basement (we didn't know we had a water problem) behind the drywall and under the carpet about six months after we moved in.

In addition to the carpet, we had to remove a ton of drywall (about four feet high around the entire perimeter of our finished basement, including guest room and bathroom), have the mold remediated (expensive), and then have new drywall hung and get the whole thing painted.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

How much did all this cost?