And yes, the word work is sarcasm.

The compartmentalization is mind-boggling.

Let’s say you call them for some mold in the bedroom closet (purely hypothetical 🥸).

Mold means water, water means there’s a leak somewhere, meaning the first inspections are where the leak is and what needs to be done to stop it.

If it’s something covered by the policy (which as far as I can tell is “not gonna happen”), then the insurance company covers stopping the leak. But far more likely, the homeowner gets to stop the leak while the claim is on hold.

Once the leaking is stopped, the removal phase happens. In this case, they open up all the walls and floors. Then discover something else that needs addressing, put up some plastic, take a business day or two to report it to the insurance carrier, and then the homeowner needs to schedule the inspectors and estimators to come back out.

Did I mention that they’ve ripped out the walls and floors? And that it’s 18º out? With snow? Or rain on the days over 35º?

That’s right, they put up plastic on the inside of the house because, get this, they don’t handle anything on the outside for liability reasons. As in, the insurance company doesn’t pay them for that.

So me, a disabled homeowner, has to find someone to cover up the ever-widening wounds in the house. At a time when handymen (usually men, anyway), are off-the-chain busy, and able to charge ludicrous rates. What was $25/hour pre-COVID is now at least $40/hour, sometimes $100+ depending on how quickly you need them to come out, if you can find someone who can come out at all.

And the best part? Any ensuing damage because the homeowner “failed” to adequately protect the home is not covered by insurance.

Meaning the fact that the closet’s electrical is now shorting out is my problem, even though their contractor left the area exposed to the elements for weeks while all this is being sorted out.

This would be stress-inducing if it was the only thing on my plate. But that’s for other posts when/if I have time for that.

At this point, they’re trying to figure out if the water damage in the bedroom is from one source, or two. And it’s two, then there will be two claims and two deductibles. Or maybe it’s one claim with some kind of exclusion or something for the window parts. Because, sure, two claims sounds great.

Meanwhile there’s a second (third?) claim for some water damage from the washer/dryer that was installed upstairs for dad to have his own launderette in his upstairs flat.

The pipes decided to share the water with the attic, which shared the water with the attic floor, which shared the water with the family room and kitchen ceilings. In the process of fixing the pipes, the workman’s foot slipped off a stud or two and cracked said ceilings. Yep. This is fun,

So this one is definitely a separate claim. Now we just gotta wait to see how many water to mold sources there are in the bedroom. Was it just the closet ceiling which migrated all the way to the window and basement? Or did the window also have a leak, which also may have migrated into the basement.

Yep, we got all the fun going on over here. Helpful hints are appreciated, but keep in mind that, as my bestie put it, it may already have been done because I’m annoyingly thorough. 😀

And quite frankly, there’s just way too much to write. Let alone read. Cuz yeah, ain’t nobody got time for all that. Yep, I’m old, and yes, that’s passé. Deal with it. 😎