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Charred sheetrock on back side, from furnace.

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TongTong42

Guest
What is the name of your state?I'm in CA.

I filed two claims with AAA a couple months ago. One for water damage (kit, part of living room, bath) and the other for raised sheetrock cracks which gradually began to appear (started back in late '01 when I bought the house) cracks continue growing) directly going up from a wall furnace in my living room, and then later on other parts of the wall (same side). I had one agent taking care of both claims, and eventually, the sheetrock one got denied, because the contractors and AAA both agreed it was settlement (the house was built in 1952), which I accepted, because they later showed me similar cracks beginning to appear in other parts of the house, which would make sense because of the fact that the house sits in a "seismic hazard zone." since we have been here, we have only had one moderate quake ~5.9, and that was two years ago or so.

so then my sig. other decided to go ahead and patch up the cracks, when just after stripping away a small, 4"x36" strip of sheetrock, he and I both notice the backside of the sheetrock is completely charred, just black like that of wood that had burnt for a long time. that particular part was directly facing (about 3"-4" away) a pipe that comes out from the furnace to the ceiling. we decided to save the pieces and not touch the wall anymore. the interesting thing is that sheetrock should have been brand new (it was already patched up with tape, in addition to the charring) when we got the house, because the furnace itself brand new, not to mention that the previous owners told us so.

Does this sound like sloppy work? negligence? I have never been in this situation before. What should I expect? What should I know? Is there any recourse with the previous owners? Any insight would be very helpful. My agent had told me that I would need to open a new claim, but when I called to do that, the old one was just reopened. She also gave me the impression that it would affect my policy in a big way... Cancellation?
 


Most "preferred" insurance carriers only allow one claim within the last three years. Some go back 5 years on certain types of claims, like water. If you've already had a water claim, it's 50/50 whether they choose non-renew you when your policy expires. Plan on your premium going up 10-30%, maybe more, either way. If you file a second claim, you're almost guaranteed a non-renewal, and you'll be super-limited on what carrier will write your insurance. Lloyd's of London and Sutter usually end up writing those policies at fat premiums.

As for the negligence part, I'll let one of the lawyer-folk tackle that. Other than insurance stuff, I'm fairly useless. :)
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
It sounds like the cracks were from an improperly installed furnace and not settling, California also has disclosure laws. If it is a new furnance there should be some warrenty on it. You might check with the city's permits department to see if one was required or issued and see if you can locate the company who installed the furnance their insurance Co should be responsible. Also you might want to check for carbon monoxide levels in the house when the furnance is in operation or install a detection device.
 

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