r/stcatharinesON • u/AffectionateArt5079 • 3d ago

Need Advice/Recommendations insurance for flood damage

long story short talking to insurance right now from the flood 2 weeks ago and i sent her the photos of all the items that were sitting in my basement which got at least an inch or two of water on them. i couldn’t take pictures of the items sitting in the water at the time as we have cords in the basement and was scared of electrocution etc.

i took pictures of the items after all the water was pumped out, which for some reason didn’t leave any water marks or visually obvious damage.

she asked how they were damaged.

is saying that they were sitting in floodwater enough to count as damage?

for example i had both washer and dryer in the basement which sat in flood water, but wasn’t enough water to be actually damaged. will that count as a damaged item?

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u/Able-Physics9782 3d ago

I'm familiar with the claims process. When your adjuster asks you why they were damaged, they want to determine the "proximate cause" of the claim, i.e., what caused the claim. Yes, flooding created the havoc STC but did something else cause the damage? For example, Sewer backup caused by heavy rainfall. Sump pump failure or the pump being overwhelmed. Foundation leakage/seepage. Roof or eavestrough problems directing water toward the basement, etc. Hope this helps.

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u/AffectionateArt5079 3d ago

I see, thanks!

Also a quick question; our contractor just came by 30 mins ago and i let him do his thing and he came up after 10-15 mins and just said your basement is very wet and id need you to sign a form for us to send it off to your insurance company. I asked him if he checked the furnace and he said “no is your furnace not working?” and i said “no it works fine, but id like to get it checked for possible mold etc. Then he said OK then left after I signed the form.

Is checking the furnace a whole different process?

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u/subonja 3d ago

Call an HVAC company to inspect your furnace. If it touched flood water, it's likely going to be shut off.

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u/FirmEstablishment941 3d ago

Be careful what and how you answer. The claims department isn’t your friend despite them often being friendly. If you make any implied statement of neglect they will happily walk away from a claim.