Filing insurance claims for total losses?

[jasper9]

I’ve not been a very active poster on R2R but I’ve learned a great deal from you all over the last year I’ve had a reef tank and I thank you all for it!

The short of it is I’m in Louisville, Colorado and on the edge of the big fire that just raged through the area destroying about 900 homes. My home was spared but while I was out of state I lost power and gas (heating), just before temperatures dropped to single digits and we got 6+in of snow. I’m headed back tomorrow but after about 18 hours of power loss so far I have no hope anything (but my dang hair algae) is still alive.

i had tons of time and money invested in failsafes, redundancy, and emergency equipment like battery backup and a generator but a multi-city wide event going into a major snow storm was just too much. Maybe if I was home I could have baby sat the generator while hiding from the police but that’s doubtful.

my question for you all - does anyone have experience or advice for filing a claim with homeowners insurance *without* any special riders for the tank? Is it even worth it? Will taking a complete line by line inventory of the losses be a waste of time?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I’ve not been a very active poster on R2R but I’ve learned a great deal from you all over the last year I’ve had a reef tank and I thank you all for it!

The short of it is I’m in Louisville, Colorado and on the edge of the big fire that just raged through the area destroying about 900 homes. My home was spared but while I was out of state I lost power and gas (heating), just before temperatures dropped to single digits and we got 6+in of snow. I’m headed back tomorrow but after about 18 hours of power loss so far I have no hope anything (but my dang hair algae) is still alive.

i had tons of time and money invested in failsafes, redundancy, and emergency equipment like battery backup and a generator but a multi-city wide event going into a major snow storm was just too much. Maybe if I was home I could have baby sat the generator while hiding from the police but that’s doubtful.

my question for you all - does anyone have experience or advice for filing a claim with homeowners insurance *without* any special riders for the tank? Is it even worth it? Will taking a complete line by line inventory of the losses be a waste of time?

I’m not sure you can do this without a special policy and I would guess the premium would be at least as much as car insurance monthly

 

[Jedi Knghit]

I inquired with our agent when I setup my tank. Without a rider, the structure is covered, but neither the tank or anything in it is covered.

With that said, we made a claim for water damage in our basement 10 years ago, We got a check for $2400 and our home owners policy went up +$800/year for three years. Even if it were covered, you'll likely end up paying it back anyway.

 

[flagg37]

I inquired with our agent when I setup my tank. Without a rider, the structure is covered, but neither the tank or anything in it is covered.

With that said, we made a claim for water damage in our basement 10 years ago, We got a check for $2400 and our home owners policy went up +$800/year for three years. Even if it were covered, you'll likely end up paying it back anyway.

That seems like it should be illegal.

I’ve not been a very active poster on R2R but I’ve learned a great deal from you all over the last year I’ve had a reef tank and I thank you all for it!

The short of it is I’m in Louisville, Colorado and on the edge of the big fire that just raged through the area destroying about 900 homes. My home was spared but while I was out of state I lost power and gas (heating), just before temperatures dropped to single digits and we got 6+in of snow. I’m headed back tomorrow but after about 18 hours of power loss so far I have no hope anything (but my dang hair algae) is still alive.

i had tons of time and money invested in failsafes, redundancy, and emergency equipment like battery backup and a generator but a multi-city wide event going into a major snow storm was just too much. Maybe if I was home I could have baby sat the generator while hiding from the police but that’s doubtful.

my question for you all - does anyone have experience or advice for filing a claim with homeowners insurance *without* any special riders for the tank? Is it even worth it? Will taking a complete line by line inventory of the losses be a waste of time?

Dude, I’m in Thornton. I could have stopped by while you were gone to help. I’m over in that direction probably every other day for various errands. Let me know if you need anything when you get back. I’d be happy to help any way I can.

 

[Karen00]

I have nothing to add regarding insurance but I wanted to say how sorry I am for what happened in your area. They were giving updates on the news here in Toronto and I watched with horror the scenes they showed of the devastation. Truly awful and heartbreaking and too surreal. I'm glad to hear your home is safe and I hope you arrive back to something salvageable with your tank and hopefully some good news with your insurance.

 

[jasper9]

Dang that’s what I figured about special policies and policies going up. I figured I’d at least ask here. Thanks!

flagg37 - thanks so much for the offer. I considered pleading here or on Facebook for help but it just seemed impossible given the area was technically blocked off and my neighbors were sneaking in just to turn off the water so our pipes don’t burst etc. filling a generator every 8 hours or so just sounded like too much to ask.

Karen00 - appreciate the kind words! My family is super lucky but we’re so close to whole streets that no longer exist I can’t even think about it. I’ll see it in person tomorrow and not looking forward to it

 

[JNalley]

Dang that’s what I figured about special policies and policies going up. I figured I’d at least ask here. Thanks!

flagg37 - thanks so much for the offer. I considered pleading here or on Facebook for help but it just seemed impossible given the area was technically blocked off and my neighbors were sneaking in just to turn off the water so our pipes don’t burst etc. filling a generator every 8 hours or so just sounded like too much to ask.

Karen00 - appreciate the kind words! My family is super lucky but we’re so close to whole streets that no longer exist I can’t even think about it. I’ll see it in person tomorrow and not looking forward to it

I'm so sorry for what you're going through, and I hope some of the tank is salvageable. The only bit of advice I could give out would be next time don't be afraid to ask for help, even if it seems impossible. Even if someone couldn't make it over there to fill your generator every 8 hours, it's possible they could have gathered up the fishes in bags and put them in a hospital tank or acclimation boxes in their system while you were going through all of this. Again though, I am really sorry this happened to you and yours.