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Home > Home & Garden > Home Insurance   »   city negligence or insurance claim

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Old Jul 21, 2009, 02:37 PM
3edna
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city negligence or insurance claim

my basement was flooded. i have a fire dept. run report which says when the city workers cleared debris from the storm drains that the water around my home receded. if i had flood insurance would it pay off if they saw this fire dept. report. the city denies any negligence. i think even if i had flood insurance it wouldn't pay off with what the fire dept. run report states. any answers??????/

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Old Jul 21, 2009, 02:53 PM   #2  
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They are going to say they are not responsible because they want to discourage you. If you have a report saying it was their fault then I would say you have a fighting chance in court.
If you do not have flood insurance they will not cover it if you get it after the fact, at least no company that I am aware of will
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Old Jul 21, 2009, 08:11 PM   #3  
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If you had a flood policy in place it could've covered your losses and your insurance company could have subrogated, which is seeking out the city's insurance carrier for repayment. But since you didn't, typically this type of loss (rising water) wouldn't be covered by a traditional homeowner's policy. You can always call your insurance carrier and check.

You may have to pay for damages and cleanup out of pocket, then hire an attorney to help you recoup your losses. You just have to prove that your loss is due to the city's negligence and is a direct result of the storm drain cleanup by the fire dept.

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N0help4u agrees: exactly
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 12:32 PM   #4  
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Only from my experience flood insurance is for river or rain water rising and not a clogged pipe. You should discuss this with a sales rep for your insurance. if you call a calims rep this could be charged to your policy as a claim. Storm drain debris does not make the city negilgent unless you can show that they have not done periodic maintainence. Please tell us exactly how storm drain water got into your home.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 12:36 PM   #5  
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I think OP is saying they have no insurance that would cover it and you can't change up after the fact and claim past damage from what I understand. OP would only benefit in future damage.

OP also said the fire company is backing her up that there was debri in the sewer system and it backed up and is the cities fault.
So OP needs to go after the city for damages.

I had the same problem. Unfortunately by the time I was able to prove it was the cities fault for backed up debri in the sewer system I hadn't saved the receipts and the plumber was too lazy to find them in his files.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 01:39 PM   #6  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ballengerb1 View Post
Only from my experience flood insurance is for river or rain water rising and not a clogged pipe. You should discuss this with a sales rep for your insurance. if you call a calims rep this could be charged to your policy as a claim. Storm drain debris does not make the city negilgent unless you can show that they have not done periodic maintainence. Please tell us exactly how storm drain water got into your home.
Yes, usually flood covers rising water from rain or a body of water. The OP wouldn't be charged for a claim unless something was paid out. The OP would need to prove that it was the city's fault for directly causing the backup.

The first thing that needs to be done (regardless of who's at fault) is to mitigate your damages by initiating cleanup and repairs. If you feel like you have a solid case (after consulting with an attorney), then you can pursue recovering your losses from the city.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 03:17 PM   #7  
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Last time I spoke to a claims rep they clearly said that they can not listen to your situation and determine if you are covered unless you are charged with a claim. Thats why I usually run things by my agent first. He isn't considered a claims rep but said you can be charged with a claim even if they do not pay out. I am with Country mutual Insurance but think this tactic is standard. We could say more if we knew how storm drain water entered the home, did it come up through a floor drain or surface water through a window.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 03:25 PM   #8  
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she said it came from a sewer full of debri around her home so I am assuming it ruined her lawn, lawn furniture and so forth.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 03:28 PM   #9  
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" cleared debris from the storm drains " storm drains and city sewer are different pipes in the street.
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Old Jul 22, 2009, 03:29 PM   #10  
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oh okay I don't know of storm drains too much I thought it was just a different term, but would the drain storms do different damage?
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