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Goodness, gracious ~ can I just tell you when it rains, it pours? Â
(You knew that already though, didn't you?)
Two weeks ago after waiting all summer (ahem), we finally got grass in our new home. As silly as it sounds, we were so happy. (I had no idea living without grass would be so difficult!)
Then, exactly four days later (as we were saturating our yard with water to keep our beautiful grass oh-so-happy), our basement flooded due to a faulty sump pump.
Eek.
But it gets better (doesn't it always?)
The next morning, after spending hours pulling items off the ground in the basement and getting a crew out to help with the basement mess, I noticed a small wet spot in the corner of my son's bedroom.  As luck would have it, there's been a leak in the wall between his shower and hallway, that's been leaking since we moved in.
Not. good.
Thankfully (so thankfully), all of these things can be fixed, and in the grand scheme of life it really is small stuff. (Mind you, it hasn't felt like small stuff at all as we've gone through it!)  Because of the way everything happened, we thought we may need to go through our insurance to handle coverage for the basement portion of the issue, but it looks like our builder will be handing it. (Thank heavens!) Along the way though we've muddled through insurance adjustors, contractors and a slew of handymen, and I've learned a few things that may help you out too when looking at your homeowners insurance policy.
Did you know that you can save on the cost of your insurance if you have a smaller claims history, and larger deductible?
We've always stuck with having a larger deductible for our homeowner's and auto insurance, which helps keep our premiums low. Because we have money already set aside in an emergency fund, if we need to file for insurance we have that money sitting in a separate account prepared for (literally) a rainy day. (This makes us less likely to file a claim unless we absolutely need to, keeping our claims history low as well.)
Did you know that if damage is caused by a sump pump failure, regular insurance won't likely cover the cost of the damage to the carpets, baseboards and walls in your basement?
(We learned that one this week~ yikes.) You can get an additional rider to cover the cost of additional damages, but you don't want to wait until it's too late to be sure you have the right policy in place.
Did you know that if a storm causes the drains or sewers around your home to back up, any damage to your basement in the event of extra water won't be covered?
As I've been reading up on insurance it turns out that typically damage caused by water coming from the sky is covered, however damage due to ground water may not be covered, so it's important to have an additional rider on your home for this as well.
As much as I hate that we've gone through this craziness over the last few weeks, we've learned so much in the process.
Because we have a finished basement, we've learned that adding a rider to our policy will be well worth it as the cost of replacing the carpeting and furniture in our basement in the event of another issue could cost us thousands of dollars, and even more if the water soaks into the dry wall.  We've learned exactly what things are and aren't covered on our home, and determined what coverage we need for the future.
So, how can you know that you have the right home insurance coverage for your home?
Contact a local insurance ELP who can discuss exactly what insurance coverage you currently have, and see what discounts they can offer you. Dave Ramsey’s Endorsed Local Provider program is also a great place to find tax help, a local realtor, or even investing advice.
To get more information, click HERE and make sure that you have the very best coverage for your home.  You don't want to ever be in a situation where you could potentially lose tens of thousands of dollars due to a policy you just didn't understand, so do your homework and find exactly the plan that works for you!
This is a sponsored by Dave Ramsey’s Endorsed Local Providers, however all opinions are my own.
I would think that one is on your builder. The main thing to remember is that is how they get all of us to stay on the hamster wheel playing into our fears. Do I like not having health insurance? No, I would prefer to have catastrophic insurance to protect assets but unfortunately now health insurance is all cost shifting to people like my family. Same with Homeowners. The insurance companies love the low deductible policies. They get to charge more for a product most people never use. I think a 10k deductible is a huge savings. Everyone has to weigh it for themselves. I just feel for people with insurance products and financial investments. These policies are so complicated now most people don’t even understand what they purchased. The policies are designed that way IMO.
Your situation is rare and to top it off most likely I would think that one would be covered by your builder. Most states have at the minimum one year warranties on new builds.
This time it’s covered by the builder I think for sure, but next time (after a year) it won’t be, and we could potentially lose quite a bit if we have water down there. I just want to make sure we have what we need to cover it (but definitely think it’s so important to really know what we have!) We hardly ever file insurance claims (maybe once in the last 18 years?) which makes me sick to pay too much for it but the thought of not having coverage for what we do need taken care of just makes me too worried about it not to find out more.
I hate that it’s so expensive though, and the medical insurance prices make me crazy too!
You and Jennifer sound like an All State Commercial ha ha. **** happens but never forget for the little and the big stuff the insurance companies have all the odds figured out. They make sure they make money. Never over insure! Reserves should take care of events like yours and that is why we don’t even bother with low deductibles on anything. Catastrophic events are what insurance is designed for or at least that’s what it used to be. Sheesh, we don’t even have health insurance anymore because it is way to costly.
Jim, my husband and I had that same discussion driving in the car yesterday – trying to decide if we’d rather fund an extra savings account for any basement water issues or add additional insurance. Our concern is that the basement is finished, and *if* (yikes!) it had a major water issue we’d lose all of the carpeting (like we did in this incidence), AND possibly could even have damage up the walls where major drywall would need repairing. (Not to mention furniture, etc.)
Thankfully in this incidence it looks like the builders insurance will cover it (we’re still waiting to hear), however if that happened it could easily run tens of thousands of dollars for us, and while we always have an emergency fund, I’m not sure that we could handle a chunk of money that big very easily (nor would we want to.) BUT, we won’t add anything again until we sit down very clearly with the insurance company and make sure we’ve read EXACTLY what’s included, because I can definitely see how they manage to find loopholes in the system! I don’t want to over insure, but I do want to make sure we have what we need (and then hopefully never need it, because goodness, dealing with insurance companies is not the most fun thing to do!)
(And maybe consider a little health insurance? That one scares me too, just because it could ruin you financially so easily… but I think it’s RIDICULOUS how expensive it’s gotten too!!!)
I am so sorry these things have happened, but very grateful you will get them covered outside your own expense. Please keep that “blessed” perspective as things could have been so much worse!
I’m definitely trying too Jennifer – it’s stressful even without being too worried about the financial end of it, so I know we’re so fortunate!