dmarc117 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 will insurance cover something that was pre-existing.... bought a home last year....redoing bathroom and have found mold and rotten wood throughout...shower pan cracked and rusted too... obviously was a problem before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sores Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 will insurance cover something that was pre-existing.... bought a home last year....redoing bathroom and have found mold and rotten wood throughout...shower pan cracked and rusted too... obviously was a problem before 1282350[/snapback] Obvious to you...maybe not so much to your insurance company. Better check the fine print in the policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaumont Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Read your policy, but I highly doubt it ... homeowner's would usually only cover a "peril" that occurred during the policy period ... Other than that, its acting as a warranty ... Perhaps the prior homeowners have a claim under their policy that they can make and assign to you the interest in the proceeds in exchange for you releasing any claim you may have against them for failing to disclose the damage ... (I'm just thinking out loud here) Make an anonymous call to your state's Department of Insurance. They no doubt have a consumer help line ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Very doubtful. That is why you have a home inspection prior to buying the house. If the home inspector didn’t find it, then either is wasn’t that easy to find or the inspector wasn’t doing his job very well. My wife and I had a problem when we bought our first home. We bought Sept 7th of 2002 and had the standard inspection and pest inspection. Nothing was found. Well come spring time the following year I just woke up and about to get ready for work (at that time I worked 4 ten hour days and my day didn’t start until 1pm.) and sat down in my football lazy boy chair right next to the window in the living room. It was in April and our really first warm week of the year. I started feeling creepy crawly things on my leg and I look down and saw thousands and thousands of termite swarmers all inside of my house. They were all over the carpet, my football chair, the curtains and just everywhere. After filling up a vacuum bag worth of termites I went to the window and saw they had chewed through the trim and were coming in that way. The pest inspection gave the house a clean bill of health. So I took it to my insurance company and they just laughed and sent me packing. It was a pre-existing condition that a pest inspector didn’t find so they weren’t paying for it. In the end, we ended up tearing out the whole front wall of the house and finding out that we have a huge termite colony that had infested the entire front of the house. The guy we hired out to get rid of them said, in his professional opinion this was at least a 15 to 20 year infestation (our home was built in 1970). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Most policies that I've seen don't cover slow water damage to the structure. But if you let it go long enough, and the house caves in, it might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junebugz Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Most policies that I've seen don't cover slow water damage to the structure. But if you let it go long enough, and the house caves in, it might. 1282866[/snapback] make sure to delete your involvement in this thread though so you can maintain the image you had no idea the water damage had been occuring so long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommyknocker Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Insurance companies, I hate them with a passion. I'm sure they will NOT help in any way shape or form in this instance. I also had a termite problem with a previous residence. Termites found, treated and returned. I went through this cycle about 4 times. Very expensive and eventually I found structural damage (bathroom walls, basement staircase and main floor flooring) The exterminators guarantee was only good for one year, our fine government took away the only chemical that effectively treats termites around 1981, and the insurance company told me to go jump in a lake. They would only pay on termite damage if there was a collapse of the structure. So I said fine!! No more extermiinators, I'll just let it fall. I sold the place as I never did solve the termite problem. I have tried very hard to adopt the philosophy that insuance is only for catastrauphic occurances, and then hope and pray I never see that day. Insurance people, I wouldnt whiz on them if they were on fire!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 This is something that "may" be covered under a home buyers warranty, usually good for one year. Typically they cover big ticket appliances (stove, AC, etc.) but it may have a provision for something like this. This is assuming that you paid for a warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 ..... our fine government took away the only chemical that effectively treats termites around 1981, and the insurance 1283645[/snapback] Chlordane! I used to use it on carpenter ants in my old house. A year after the app., the ants would try to climb up the foundation and fall off/die. Nasty stuff. When we moved I still had some leftover, but didn't know how to get rid of it. I mentioned thisto a co-worker who was retiring to MS. He asked if he could have it as the termite problem is bad down there. I was glad to get rid of the stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perchoutofwater Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 (edited) Like Kid Cid said, it might be covered under a buyers warranty, if you got one. If you got one read the small print. If not read the small print in your insurance policy. If insurance doesn't cover your problem then you might be out of luck on this. Of course if that rusted pipe were to rupture spraying the walls, as well as the adjacent flooring that you want to replace anyway, then home owners insurance should cover that. Edited January 23, 2006 by Perchoutofwater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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