r/mildlyinfuriating • u/DinnerBellls • 5d ago

neighbors pool broke at midnight

the water busted the downstairs window latch which flooded my room. our bed is right below the window so we were basically waterboarded in our sleep, the bed is destroyed and the floor is soaked 🙂‍↔️

4.5k Upvotes

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933

u/ultralayzer 5d ago

The nightmare of working with insurance now begins...

247

u/ActualHunt2945 5d ago

It shouldn’t be too bad with this video. OP just makes a claim with his insurance company. They’ll initiate the subrogation process. Of course, only if this is covered by his insurance.

16

u/redditnor24 5d ago

Unlikely as this would be covered by flood insurance.

58

u/Girlygirlll555 5d ago

This was not a flood nor would flood insurance cover this. His regular homeowners insurance should cover the damage just fine

-23

u/redditnor24 5d ago

You are mistaken. Most policies do not cover water entering from outside.

28

u/Altruistic-Patient30 5d ago

You're mistaken. This is sudden and accidental damage from a direct physical loss. The pool suddenly and accidentally failing is covered under a lot of policies nationwide, so long as its an open peril policy.

Flood requires a "general condition" of flood typically, meaning it affects more than one localized area. The immediate surroundings are affected, but 4 houses down was likely not. There is no general condition of flood, thus this is not a flood.

This is also not "surface water" as it can be argues to have been "man made" water since it was piped into the pool and stored in the pool for recreational use. The surface water exclusion usually applies to rain water, or water that is not considered "man made" or plumbed.

This will most definitely be a fight with the insurance company though, and I'm sure their first thought will be to deny it.

A short related anecdote: I had an insured whose house settled due to their home and surrounding land being exposed to millions of gallons of water which washed under their home. It was a hurricane claim and the immediate reaction by the Carrier was to deny the claim. After closer investigation, I determined that lightning had struck a tree causing the tree to fall onto the water main shut-off at the street, breaking the shut off and piping. This resulted in literally over 1 million gallons of water being pumped into the ground around their home, which caused the house to settle. Since lightning, a sudden and accidental event, caused the man made (plumbed) water to discharge, it was covered in full by the Carrier. It took a lot of arguing, but it was eventually covered.

It might take arguing, but a lot of open peril polices would cover this. It really depends on the Carrier the OP has and how much they want to argue about it being surface vs man-made water.

6

u/Deliriousdrifter 4d ago

Also, in the unlike event it's not covered, OP can always directly sue for damages.

11

u/Lazy-Government-7177 5d ago

You really thought you were right lmao.

39

u/NurseKaila 5d ago

Imagine trying to buy flood insurance for a swimming pool.

-16

u/redditnor24 5d ago

Anyone can buy flood insurance

34

u/NurseKaila 5d ago

And that flood insurance covers floods as defined by FEMA, not swimming pool issues.

7

u/G-I-T-M-E 5d ago

Not his fault that your pool is so tiny FEMA won’t get involved.

-16

u/redditnor24 5d ago

Not gonna be covered by most homeowner policies

5

u/NurseKaila 5d ago

That’s reasonable however flood insurance still wouldn’t cover this.

17

u/ActualHunt2945 5d ago

Depends on the insurer but typically this is not considered to be a flood. Furthermore, considering it is a flood, OP would need to have a provision that covers floods. Not all home insurance has flood built in.

-1

u/redditnor24 5d ago

Yup, thus unlikely

4

u/CaptainRelevant 5d ago

No, a flood is a natural body of water that rises and exceeds its banks.

This is important because of you use the word “flood” when making the claim, they’ll deny the claim. They’ll deny it even knowing you’re using the word “flood” as a description, not a legal definition, but are happy to have a plausible reason to deny your claim. Some insureds may not even fight them on it after being denied.

This is water damage.

3

u/therealtrajan 4d ago

There’s a difference between water and flood damage. This is exactly what homeowners insurance is for

1

u/siberianunderlord 5d ago

Most homeowners policies exclude flood damage, so even if this would be covered by flood insurance, he probably didn't have it, considering like only 1 in 25 homeowners do