Real Life, Real Claim….What We Have Learned From a Policy Holder

When it comes to home renovations, not only do you need to find the right qualified contractor, but you need to double and triple check they carry current liability insurance! Let us introduce you to our Central Florida customer who has a Florida homeowners insurance policy.

This customer built their home 23 years ago. The home has weathered several Florida hurricanes, strong winds and rain storms. The exterior of this 23 year old home has been maintained and repaired from storm damage but the homeowners decided it was time to do some interior renovations.

While renovating a bathroom is nice, a kitchen is even more fun, how about renovating your flooring in the entire house? Lots of things to think about when it comes to flooring, including the right contractor for the job. The homeowners interviewed three different contractors. Looked at flooring options, allowed the contractors to take measurements and patiently waited for flooring quotes. Once they settled on “the” flooring company they signed the contract and started purging their home to prepare for the whole house flooring install. The installation was touch and go, mistakes were made but quickly made right. The flooring came out beautifully, but unfortunately the kitchen appliances were a whole different story.

Lesson #1 – read your contract carefully with any installation company. Understand what they are committed to doing and not doing

Lesson #2 – document, document, document – take photos and get conversations in writing!

While our customer was enjoying their new flooring they didn’t realize water would soon creep into their kitchen and their homeowners insurance policy would have to rescue them. The installers proceeded to connect our customer’s dishwasher (they were not supposed to do that, this action violated the contract) and didn’t connect the water outtake hose! For 5-weeks water was free flowing in our customer’s kitchen. Their cabinets and drywall acted as a sponge and soaked up every bit of water through their kitchen. As you can imagine after 5 weeks, mold dominated the kitchen and now a claim to their Florida homeowners insurance agency was required.

Fortunately, our customer has the right homeowners insurance policy in place. When you have good home insurance, your adjuster will walk you through the process of submitting your claim. Documenting all damage with photos or video is key to moving your claim through the process.

In a homeowners insurance claim we highly recommend a homeowner document the claim in writing and closely work with their adjusters.

A homeowners insurance policy can also offer assistance in recovering damages caused from a third party. This is known as subrogation, where our client is able to collect money for the repairs caused by the contractor.

When shopping for your Florida homeowners insurance, it’s important to understand your home coverage and know if subrogation is available. Comparing home insurance quotes takes time and understanding what’s included and what is not. For our client with the new floors and damaged kitchen, they are still working through their claim.

Key takeaways:

We encourage Florida homeowners looking to compare home insurance coverage options to give us a call in our Altamonte Springs office. Rates certainly vary and it’s good to know what’s available for homeowner insurance discounts.

Sometimes paying your homeowners insurance in advance for 6 or 12 months can save you money. These are the types of money saving tips you will learn when you meet with us at Brockman Insurance Group. Give us a call today, 407-644-9991 and let’s review your home insurance policy or competitive quotes.

We service all of Central Florida including those living in Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Sanford, Longwood, Lake Mary and all of Seminole County. We look forward to helping you secure the right homeowners insurance policy for your specific needs.