showtime14
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? IN
In late 2012, my roof/ceiling started leaking. It would only leak with really heavy rain, not light rain.
I filed a claim with my insurance. They sent out an adjuster, and I also had a restoration come out to assess the damages and cause. On their first visit, the resto company did not do a water test.
They provided their opinion to the adjuster, stating that the cause of the leak was the flashing being either missing or improperly placed. Adjuster agreed to their assessment, and agreed to pay for outside work, and to also fix inside damages, minus my deductible. Resto company does the work, including drywall and painting, to the tune of $3k. The work was completed in Sept '12.
Winter goes by, no leaks. Summer of 2013 was exceptionally dry here in Indiana, with no major storms. Going into August, 11 months after the roof was "fixed", it started leaking again. Exact same spot. I called the resto company and had them come out. This time, they did a water test. They basically ran my hose up there for about 20 minutes, hopin Tg to find the leak. They sprayed and sprayed all along where the flashing was "fixed", assuming that was where the leak must be. He was unable to find the leak, unble to get the ceiling to leak. They said as soon as it happens again, call them back out. They said even if it's raining, they will come out so they can see first hand where the leak is coming from. They would bring an infrared camera. I told them that we were going into winter, and that it likely wouldn't leak again until we had heavy rain again next spring/summer. They said no worries, call them.
Sure enough, winter goes by, no leaks.
Fast forward to this month, July '14, and we had our first good, strong storms of the year. Ceiling starts leaking. I call them out, they say they can't come out, it's too dangerous...have to come next week. Fine.
They come out this week and do another water test. This time, they are able to get the roof/ceiling to leak. They show me that my top gutter is clogged, causing a small dam. This dam is causing water to be pushed up under a shingle on the very peak of the roof. They say it will need to be a new insurance claim. I say no way. It was their job to diagnose it properly in the first place.
I call the insurance adjuster today. He said that he spoke with the resto company. He said, that going by what the resto guys told him, the leak is in a different spot than the original, and because of that, i would need to file a new claim. I explain to him that this is the exact same leak, causing the exact same damage as before. That I should not have to file a new claim. That I pay both him and the resto company, who are the experts, to both diagnose the problem correctly and also fix the damage. I explained that it is my belief that the root cause of the leak was not properly diagnosed/identified in the first place. I told him that it is nearly impossible that i would have a second leak in less than 12 months, in the exact same spot, causing the exact same damage. He was of no further help.
Shouldn't the resto and/or insurance be responsible for fixing this on the same claim, given that it was not, in my opinion, properly diagnosed in the first place?
Thank you in advance!
In late 2012, my roof/ceiling started leaking. It would only leak with really heavy rain, not light rain.
I filed a claim with my insurance. They sent out an adjuster, and I also had a restoration come out to assess the damages and cause. On their first visit, the resto company did not do a water test.
They provided their opinion to the adjuster, stating that the cause of the leak was the flashing being either missing or improperly placed. Adjuster agreed to their assessment, and agreed to pay for outside work, and to also fix inside damages, minus my deductible. Resto company does the work, including drywall and painting, to the tune of $3k. The work was completed in Sept '12.
Winter goes by, no leaks. Summer of 2013 was exceptionally dry here in Indiana, with no major storms. Going into August, 11 months after the roof was "fixed", it started leaking again. Exact same spot. I called the resto company and had them come out. This time, they did a water test. They basically ran my hose up there for about 20 minutes, hopin Tg to find the leak. They sprayed and sprayed all along where the flashing was "fixed", assuming that was where the leak must be. He was unable to find the leak, unble to get the ceiling to leak. They said as soon as it happens again, call them back out. They said even if it's raining, they will come out so they can see first hand where the leak is coming from. They would bring an infrared camera. I told them that we were going into winter, and that it likely wouldn't leak again until we had heavy rain again next spring/summer. They said no worries, call them.
Sure enough, winter goes by, no leaks.
Fast forward to this month, July '14, and we had our first good, strong storms of the year. Ceiling starts leaking. I call them out, they say they can't come out, it's too dangerous...have to come next week. Fine.
They come out this week and do another water test. This time, they are able to get the roof/ceiling to leak. They show me that my top gutter is clogged, causing a small dam. This dam is causing water to be pushed up under a shingle on the very peak of the roof. They say it will need to be a new insurance claim. I say no way. It was their job to diagnose it properly in the first place.
I call the insurance adjuster today. He said that he spoke with the resto company. He said, that going by what the resto guys told him, the leak is in a different spot than the original, and because of that, i would need to file a new claim. I explain to him that this is the exact same leak, causing the exact same damage as before. That I should not have to file a new claim. That I pay both him and the resto company, who are the experts, to both diagnose the problem correctly and also fix the damage. I explained that it is my belief that the root cause of the leak was not properly diagnosed/identified in the first place. I told him that it is nearly impossible that i would have a second leak in less than 12 months, in the exact same spot, causing the exact same damage. He was of no further help.
Shouldn't the resto and/or insurance be responsible for fixing this on the same claim, given that it was not, in my opinion, properly diagnosed in the first place?
Thank you in advance!