rokint wrote:
Nakiea,

not sure if you've gone this route before but can you report this to your insurance, isn't that why we're all supposed to carry insurance - to pay off for calamities?

i know it's a double edge sword because the premiums may go up or worse yet - the threat to drop you but i like what my GF told her insurance company - It's what I pay you every month for - the right to file a claim (her agent told her that she'd probably be dropped if she filed a claim and she told him she find another company - she wasn't dropped nor did her rates go up).

anyway, it's a thought.

This is some real good advise - we've had to file two claims in the past ten years - the first was for a freezer which was packed with fish/meat and that years garden - we had a power serge while helping my son and wife after the birth of their first child - we came home after two weeks to find it plugged in but not running and everything spoiled and leaking - some investigation found the circuit breaker tripped. We knew then what had happened as we'd been home in the past when it tripped. There's a power failure, and when the electricity comes back on it tries to start everything in our basement - water heater & freezer at the same time and it overloads then trips the switch. The flashing clocks and the stove clock blinking 'PF' told us what happened, as did the electric company when we called.  The insurance company - Farmers - denied our claim even though we had pictures of what we lost and had one of their so called best home owners policies They claimed it was our up-right freezer's fault - which, by the way was up and running once the switch was set. A neighbor who'd experienced the same problem a year earlier told us to push the issue as he had the same insurance man - the back-wall behind the freezer as well as the carpet in the next room was damaged from seepage ( smelled to high heaven) and both needed replacing. So we demanded compensation. He threatened us with higher rates which we replied that if that was how he handled claims then we were shopping elsewhere. He sent out an adjuster who satisfied our claim. As soon as we had the check we switched our insurance to another company as that fool had tried that tactic before.  A neighbor's son had broken out one of our windows and our insurance refused to cover the damages even though it was a large window (the kid denied it even though his ball was in our living room). In 2008 while hd was in the hospital the O ring on our toilet gave way ruining the bathroom floor, the vanity as well as the bathtub. By the time the leak was discovered an incredible amount of damage resulted. Lets just say you took your life into your own hands if you sat on the toilet as it was ready to crash through the floor! It became a total bathroom over haul as the room was built around the cast iron tub. Again we waited to hear that our rates would go up - they did not, that we would be asked to do business elsewhere - we weren't! It depends on your agent and the company they work for.  We went through AARP and use Hartford which has been really dependable. Don't let them bully you or use scare tactics - other insurance companies are all to eager for your business and the one you have is well aware of it.