After water damage occurs in your property you as the homeowner are racing against the clock to stop the leak, remove all standing water and moisture from your property to prevent further damage of mold contamination from overtaking your home. If the source of the water damage and or the standing water and moisture is left unattended mold will start to develop within 24hours. In some cases depending on the climate and the extent of the water damage, your home can be overrun by mold within months condemning your property and making it uninhabitable.
Understanding Home Owners Insurance
Most homeowners are not educated on their insurance policies. Yes at the 50000-foot level having insurance to take care of property loss is a must but in some cases, homeowners insurance does not cover flooding or other acts of nature. The homeowner could be out of luck if flood damage has occurred due to a storm flooding out the property. In this example, the homeowner would need to carry an additional flood insurance policy to cover their home or property that was damaged by storm flooding. There are cases where a natural disaster has happened like in Texas when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and the coastal area of Texas. People whose homes were not in a flood zone got flood damage and were out of luck with their insurance provider because they did not have the additional flood insurance to cover such loss. You as a property owner need to fully understand your insurance policy coverage, what are its limitations, gaps, and what you are responsible for in the case of loss mitigation.
So let’s not take my comments above out of context and get me wrong. Insurance is a good thing to have and can help absorb a loss to your property when catastrophe strikes. You just need to understand the limitations of your policy and what your fiduciary responsibility is to mitigate damage or loss in your property is.
Insurance and Natural Disasters
When a statewide natural disaster strikes there are so many people with catastrophic damage that insurance companies are overwhelmed. They have to route insurance adjusters from other parts of the country to come and review claim loss at your property and you might be the 100th or 1000 person on their list they are scheduled to see. It may take weeks months before they even get to you. So in saying this when it comes to saving your home or property from water damage you as the property owner may have to come out of pocket to save your property from growing mold damage that will ultimately condemn your property.
Shown below is an example in Austin Texas after an arctic ice storm in February 2021 where there was so much water damage due to frozen pipes breaking and homes and apartments. All these properties were inundated by water and property owners did not remediate their properties waiting on insurance adjusters and by May in just two months, all of those buildings were condemned because of mold.
Understanding Insurance Clauses
Every Insurance policy has stop gaps written into the insurance policy to protect the insurance company from paying out or to minimize the amount of loss it has to pay out. The most common one is that the homeowners have the responsibility to perform immediate mitigation (repairs to stop further damages) or they could be held negligent thus nulling the insurance companies’ contractual obligation to pay for the loss of your property. We have seen this first hand in Louisana after hurricane Ida.
Water be Gone was part of the recovery efforts for Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. The devastation was enough to open anyone’s eyes. The biggest thing that we came across were homeowners that were not educated on their insurance policies. Homeowners insurance is NOT made for the homeowner, it is a mandated requirement if you have a home with a mortgage. It is there to protect the bank and its collateralized investment of your property or the property you are paying on via a mortgage.
You as a homeowner pay premiums every month, year after year; when it comes time to collect on that insurance, they send out adjusters that are there to minimize the damages and not listen to the experts. Homeowners in Louisiana were so afraid to perform repairs on their homes because they wanted to wait and see if the insurance would approve the claim.
Every policy has it written in the policy, that the homeowner has the responsibility to perform immediate mitigation (repairs to stop further damages) or they could be held negligent thus voiding the insurance company having to pay for damages.
It’s not that the homeowner doesn’t know things need to be fixed or repaired. They are just under the impression that it is the insurance companies’ responsibility to fix it. The catch is that when there is damaged caused by water, you literally cannot wait as what you see in the video above of complete loss within two months of water damage. As a property owner, you need to understand your Insurance policy and its limitations to cover the loss.
Water Be Gone Orlando’s Water Damage Restoration Mold Remediation Experts
If you are experiencing water damage in your property in Central Florida or in Louisana call the water damage repair pros at Water Be Gone.
Water Be Gone can remove standing water from your property, dry and dehumidify moisture and remediate your property from mold. Water Be Gone can also help you navigate the insurance claims process.
Water Be Gone are your local Orlando Water Damage Restoration Experts that can be on-site at your property within the hour of initial contact. If you are experiencing water damage or mold and need your home or business remediated in Central Florida contact Water be Gone today. Say No To Water Mold Damage!
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Telephone No.4079909929
