Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is advising consumers to check their home insurance policies for water damage sublimits.
“A policy with a sublimit may provide lower monthly premiums, but people will be in for a surprise when they file a claim,” Kreidler said. “It’s important to know what you’re paying for and how much, or how little, you could be paying out of your own pocket if your home is damaged.”
Five companies writing home insurance policies in Washington have recently considered selling policies with optional water damage sublimits. A policy sublimit restricts the recovery to a set amount below the total amount of coverage available in the policy.
In this instance, a policy may have a maximum benefit of $500,000, but a $10,000 optional sublimit for water damage. Water damage could include a pipe breaking and releasing water in a house, be it from a sink, toilet, water heater, dishwasher, or frozen pipe.
Adding a water damage sublimit reduces your costs but reduces your protection, too. It also may not meet the property insurance standards required by your lender.
Check your policy for water damage sublimits or ask your agent or broker. If you need additional help or want to file a complaint, contact the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
I recently had a water heater malfunction and my insurance agreed to pay for the total repairs. When it came time to replace the water heater which I bought and all parts they declined to pay for the replumbing that they had originally accepted. In the meantime I had the original plumbers come back to do it. They never gave me anything in writing to let me know before hand that they were going to charge me 485.00 an hour. If I had known that ahead of time I would have called someone else. The bill is for 10,000 dollars. This was not an emergency repair. I made an appointment for 2 weeks out. Now they want to send me to collections. That is not an amount I never would have agreed to. The company is Roto Rooter. Do I have any recourse. I had to file a claim against American Modern Insurance with your office just to get them to send out the money for the contractor. After they received your letter was when they made payment. Then they canceled our homeowners insurance. Please let me know if I have any recourse. Thank you
Hi Tami — you should contact the insurance commissioner’s office with your question:https://www.insurance.wa.gov/get-help-insurance-problem-or-question