portico on our 10 year old home collapsed. Insurance company refusing to pay for repairs

[Anonymous]

We own our current home ~5 years. It was built 2005. Since then the builder went out of business. Over the last few months we noticed the right side of the portico starting to droop. My husband is ALWAYS beyond attentive to our home and maintaining it. He put some flashing (I think it's called) where he suspected water was getting in (fall 2014).

Flash forward to now....after all the recent rain it has considerably dropped to the right side. The pillar is loose that is holding it up. We called contractors for estimates. They suggested we contact the insurance company. They will cover it, in their opinion.

I called insurance company and they pussyfooted around it. I requested an adjuster. Adjustor claimed it was a builder issue. Not covered. But they will paint it! (Bc 1500 deductible to paint a falling down portico is awesome )

What can we do? We called and asked them to re-review, send another adjuster.

Anyone have any experience with this? Has your insurance company covered something similar?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It sounds like an ongoing issue/defect, not sudden,accidental damage. The former is not covered under Insurance.

[Anonymous]

I would never use homeowners insurance for something this small. Some of them cancel you after one claim.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand why this would be covered under insurance? Insurance is if your roof blows off, you have a massive leak or a fire. It sounds like a 1-2k repair- not worth insurance money! Besides, even if it ends up costing 4k, you can guarantee that your insurance company will raise your rates for the next 10 years to pay for it.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Estimate is $6500. And the contractor was shocked when they said it wasn't covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Estimate is $6500. And the contractor was shocked when they said it wasn't covered.

Their estimates are a lot higher when they think insurance is paying. That's why they want insurance to cover it. Believe me, this is NOT worth your deductible. And you'll be flagged as high risk to any insurance company you apply to for years.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like a lack of proper maintenance issue, which is not covered by insurance. Also, it sounds like your contractor is telling you what you want to hear.

[Anonymous]

Your contractor has no way of knowing what your policy will cover or not and trying to get you to commit to the work.

[Anonymous]

Side note- I just ran into this with a roofing company. I wanted my roof fixed and they were convinced it was hail damage. So the roofing company went back and forth with my insurance company. I finally just fired both and hired a different roofing company. It was so frustrating how much they wanted insurance to pay! I think it must be a common contractor scam. Roofing company was going to pay my deductible though by paying me to "help advertise" for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Estimate is $6500. And the contractor was shocked when they said it wasn't covered.

Their estimates are a lot higher when they think insurance is paying. That's why they want insurance to cover it. Believe me, this is NOT worth your deductible. And you'll be flagged as high risk to any insurance company you apply to for years.

OP here. This makes sense. We have other contractors coming to take a look and give an estimate.

If anyone has a contractor they recommend in Northern Virginia / PWC

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

If it's shodder builder work, you may be covered under your state's insurance fund (in MD, it's MHIC) that is there to pay out when the builder goes bankrupt.

[Anonymous]

I would get a couple of estimates.

My brother's house had porch pillars that the previous had wrapped in that plastic fence coating. It turns out they did this b/c they were pretty much rotted through. When there was a heavy storm, the pillars started sinking/bowing under the pressure.

Depending on what is causing this, you may want to take it up with your home inspector.

[Anonymous]

Read your insurance binder. If you still believe insurance should pay, contact your state's insurance board. Your insurance company will then likely send a civil engineer to make an assessment. If they agree with you, they'll pay. If they side with the insurance company, you pay.

I had this issue, and civil engineer sided with us. We never saw the report, but insurance ended up paying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would get a couple of estimates.

My brother's house had porch pillars that the previous had wrapped in that plastic fence coating. It turns out they did this b/c they were pretty much rotted through. When there was a heavy storm, the pillars started sinking/bowing under the pressure.

Depending on what is causing this, you may want to take it up with your home inspector.

haha thanks for the laugh. Home inspectors don't cover anything once you've purchased the home.

[Anonymous]

You are confusing insurance with a warranty.
Your portico has been exhibiting problems for years, instead of hiring a professional your husband whom you describe as not maintainence oriented did his best and now it's too late.

This one is going to be on you; insurance is for when your neighbor backs into the column or a tree crushes it; this is neglect and insurers don't pay for that.