My father, who is in his early 80s but mostly sharp mentally, lives alone in a house that he owns. About a month ago the water heater broke and flooded the basement. The next day the boiler man was there and he says to us, "This whole thing will cost about $2,000.00." I say "Does insurance cover this?" The boiler man says, "No, insurance doesn't pay for something like this." My father then says, "My daughter (that's me) has never owned a house so she wouldn't know."
Well, two weeks later we are in the pharmacy and next to us in line is my father's insurance agent. My father tells them what happened and the insurance agent says, "We don't cover the boiler but we do cover the water damage. Call me next week and we'll complete a claim."
What do you mean, 'what do you make of this situation?' That insurance does not cover the cost of a water heater, but they do cover the cost of the repairs coming from damages caused by a flood caused by a water heater malfunction, as most people know who own a home. That's what I 'make of it.'
A simple call to one's insurance agent would answer such a question, because who on earth is going to rely on a repairman to tell a homeowner what is or is not covered by their individual homeowner's insurance policy?
There is no standard among houses, so not owning a house wouldn’t make a difference in what one would know beforehand. I have no idea what’s in half of my own policy, so I would just call my agent about it.
Tell Dad you don't need to own a home to know these things. There is also renters insurance. Usually with a rental the damage maybe under warranty but not the renters belongings.
Maybe that's what the boiler guy was referring to. A month long flood is probably part of an exclusion in the policy.
Who leaves a flood for a month?
Situation occurred a month ago.
The boiler man may also know other householders who have tried and failed to make insurance claims, or who have made cheeky (polite term for fraudulent) claims, or whose policy is different, or who have also made the mistake of asking his advice on anything except boilers. But that isn't his fault.
The moral of the story is that if you want to know what your policy covers, ask your insurance agent.
Many, many people aren't any better at this than your father was. I'd make it a learning experience and be glad that he has an old-fashioned agent who clings to the Lloyd's maxim: "utmost good faith."
The one where your father received conflicting advice about whether or not something is covered by his homeowner's insurance (easily solved by a simple phone call TO the homeowner insurance company, wouldn't you agree?)...
OR
The somewhat snide comment your dad made about you having never owned a house, therefore having no knowledge as to homeowner claims?
That your father-the-homeowner was asking at all demonstrates that home ownership does not come with freehold possession of insurance expertise, QED. Don't look for logic, he wasn't applying any.
What happened to your brother? Wasn't he supposed to helping dad and moving him into an assisted living facility?
Last time you posted you said dad was living a large and expensive life courtesy of brother and his wife's money. What happened to that?
Who cleaned up all the water damage in this house?
Note that the claim may not be worth pursuing.
Is ”About $2,000” minus the cost of the new boiler, minus the deductible, worth the risk of insurance rates going up?
I have a feeling that Dad does not respect the opinions of a woman. Really, you need to stand up for yourself. Loving your father does not mean you lay back and take it. It won't be easy, little steps, but these men treat you the way they do because you let them.
Don't take any of this too seriously.
So far in last about 24 hours or so we have a neighbor problem of her, this problem of hers, and several other posts, one of which she is angry that the admins changed the title a bit. Either four or five posts. I lose track at my age.
I personally am kind of glad to have her back. Forum members have been hard tried in the last few days with personal medical issues, with a lot of things, and Lisa tends to bring "light relief" of a kind.
Do look back on some of her previous posts. Do you recall the whole story with the OP moving back home and the brother having POA over the father, and so on? Yes. That's right. That one was Lisa.
Hats off to her, she has given me more than a few giggles here today; I badly needed them.
Don't worry over much about Lisa. (Do however give a sympathetic thought to her Dad). Lisa holds her own VERY VERY WELL against her Dad AND her brother. This is a gal who can take care of herself quite nicely. She has my every admiration.
(Suggesting everyone looks at who is posting today. If it is Lisa, then look at Lisa's other posts here, before answering her).
I make of this situation that everything looks to be working out just swell.