MARCH 28, 2015
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
After the Big Dig-out, it's time for the Big Payout. Or will
it be the Big Denial?
New England's epic winter is on pace to produce a
corresponding number of claims as thousands of homeowners seek to repair
damage. Successive storms dumped 110 inches of snowfall in Boston alone, a
record for an entire season.
"It's a part-time job just to navigate it all,"
says Cathy Schwarz, a Plymouth resident who is working with her insurer and
repair companies after rooftop ice dams caused leaks in her house. "Everybody
says you'll get through this, but all I can see is a house that's just not
livable right now."
The winter was so unusually severe that governors across the
six-state region have requested or are in the process of requesting federal
disaster relief to help state and local governments pay for snow removal and
other costs. The requests, however, would not cover home or private property
damage.
Local insurance agents and public adjusters — firms that
help homeowners navigate the claim process — say they've been swamped with
inquiries.
They urge homeowners to be patient. A high volume of claims means insurance
companies will need more time to process and finalize payments. Homeowners
might also run into trouble securing contractors to do repair work because of
high demand.
"It's going to seem like the winter that does not want
to end," says Marc Baron, a partner at the New England Adjustment Company
in Massachusetts. "This work is going to go on well into the summer."
Some property owners are already bracing for paying costs
out of pocket.
"I'm sure I'll have to put some money up," says
Daniel Alperin, a homeowner in Newton who is working with his insurance company
after ice dams damaged at least four rooms in his house. "Obviously their
job is to protect their interests, so it's a negotiating game, like anything
else."
Others remain hopeful.
"We're hoping we hear positively from our insurance
company and that the majority is covered," says the Rev. Patricia Miller
Fernandes at Worcester's Epworth United Methodist Church, which suffered roof
damage that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. "That's why we
pay them every year, after all."
Schwarz, the Plymouth homeowner, says she's moving ahead
with repair work while she awaits the final verdict from her insurer.
Workers have been tearing up water-damaged walls, ceilings
and floors in about eight rooms in her house. The family is hoping insurance
will also pay to relocate them elsewhere during the repairs.
"It's been such a nightmare dealing with what we're
dealing with that I haven't had the time to read the fine print," Schwarz
says when asked whether she's concerned insurance won't cover most of the
expenses. "But it's crossed my mind. If it happened, it would be horrific.
We don't have that sort of money to restore our home."
Jeanne Salvatore, spokesman for the Insurance Information
Institute, a New York-based industry group, says most homeowners shouldn't have
reason to worry.
"The good news is that a lot of winter-related damage
is covered by standard auto and home policies, whether its burst pipes or ice
dams or fallen trees or limbs," she said. "All of this is
covered."
What’s generally not covered are problems that could have
been prevented if homeowners had taken “reasonable steps” to mitigate them,
such as addressing a water leak before it gets too big or spreads to other
rooms, Salvatore says.
Flooding caused by melting snows is also not covered by
typical homeowner’s insurance, she added. That requires special flood
insurance.
Industry watchers caution that it’s not so simple.
“Some of the very large, national firms are definitely
conducting business as usual,” says Baron, the public insurance adjuster.
“They’re looking for ways to minimize payments and to potentially deny claims
based upon the fact they there was wear and tear over time.”
William Swymer, an insurance expert that lectures at Bentley
University in Waltham, says insurers will be taking a hard look at claims
dealing with personal property within the home. “Those claims will be fought
harder. It’s going to have to be really obvious,” he says.
But Swymer did not expect insurance companies would be
rejecting claims outright. “To start denying a lot of claims would generate a
lot of bad publicity,” he said.
The trade-off? Swymer says customers might see higher
insurance rates in the coming year.
Source: http://www.columbian.com