Anonymous wrote:Insurance companies don't pay for backup systems. That $5,000 was for something else. Seems the insurance company got ripped off.

You clearly have no idea how insurance works. You are compensated for damages and given latitude as the homeowner to make whatever repairs or upgrades are necessary to prevent similar damage in the future. I've worked with my insurance company on two occasions and they are very thorough in how they calculate damages. Don't talk about things you clearly know nothing about - you just sound ignorant, sorry.

OP, have you asked her what she intends to do with the money?
Do you think she is preparing to divorce you?
Is she unhappy about your relationship, or the fact that you are overseas?

Insurance companies don't pay for backup systems. That $5,000 was for something else. Seems the insurance company got ripped off.

Anonymous wrote:If you didn't need the $5,000, you should give it back to the insurance company.

But they do need it - for the backup system that OP's crazy wife refuses to pay for so she can pocket the money instead. If I were OP I'd be on a plane and throwing down some ultimatums.

If you didn't need the $5,000, you should give it back to the insurance company.

How did you get $5K if you didn't need it to compensate for anything?

..

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like she's getting ready for a divorce

+1 Sorry, OP. Either that or your wife is batshit. Never heard of using insurance money as "compensation" for the headache of dealing with a flooded basement.

It sounds like she's getting ready for a divorce

Compensation? For what?

What was she being compensated for?

Agree with PP - she sounds like a mess.

Anonymous wrote:Think you have bigger issues with your wife than with your basement.

+1

Think you have bigger issues with your wife than with your basement.

So, I am stationed overseas on a 3-year assignment. Last summer, during one of the rain storms, derecho or whatver it was that happened our basement flooded due to power failure. Our sump pumps stopped working and the basement flooded. Luckily our insurance paid to repair the finished basement.

However, DW is now complaining with the summer storm season coming on that this being the Washington area where power failures seem to be de rigeur for even the smallest thunderstorm, that our basement will inevitably flood when the power goes out yet again. She wants to install a backup system. I agree, but the question comes down to how to pay for it. I know for a fact that she took at least $5K from the insurance payout and squirreled it away in her own account. When I raise with her that this money can be used to pay for the backup system, she cried this is her "compensation." So, at this point I am basically saying that I agree we need a backup system, but that the responsibility for paying for it needs to come out of that remainder of insurance money because "that is what it is for." If the basement floods again, she will need to accept responsibility.

Frankly, I do not understand her thinking that this insurance money is her "compensation." However, she either needs to decide whether she wants to keep that money - which is not hers to begin with - or whether she wants to prevent the basement from flooding again. I do not understand her stubborness, but she needs to put on her big girl pants and start acting like an adult and not expect me to cave in and give her what she wants.