Homeowners Insurance Claim Denied.

seena

New member
EDIT/UPDATE: THE DAMAGE DONE HERE BELOW WAS BY A SQUIRREL THAT CAME DOWN THE DINING ROOM CHIMNEY FIREPLACE!

Late yesterday afternoon I walked into our dining and discovered all of the emollients that frame each glass pane in a 9 pane over 9 pane window had been chewed by a mess. The attached 2 photos give you an idea of the damage done.

He had to have come down the chimney in the DR. Both doors to the DR are always closed. The mess was such that it’s clear he was desperate to get to water and died trying.

No, I never heard a thing. The house is 5100 sq ft and only 2 of us living there. And David was gone for 2 weeks, returning last night.

I spoke briefly with our State Farm agent this afternoon and she says we are NOT covered for damage caused by animals, rodents, etc.

I’m more than a bit incredulous. Two years ago mice chewed the wiring underneath my Prius dashboard and State Farm paid $9,300 to rewire the car. He smashed 2 DR table centerpieces, several Patricia Breen Christmas ornaments ($180-$450/ ea.) and destroyed 3 extra large serving platter so

And just last year I lowered our homeowners’ deductible from 1% of the assessed value of our property (>$1M = at least $10,000 deductible for each loss/occurrence).

I understand each company is different, offering various riders as add-ons to their homeowners policy product.

Has anyone ever run across anything similar and, if you filed a claim and were denied, I’d very much appreciate hearing about your eventual outcome.

Thanks very much for your time reading this, and if so inclined, responding.
 
@seena I once handled a claim where a deer jumped through a picture window and freaked out once inside. Interestingly, building damage was covered (open peril) but contents were not (named peril).

But yeah, rodents and vermin excluded generally...
 
@lynnede I remember a claim for an older woman who fell down in her living room due to a fainting spell. She hit her head on the coffee table and bled all over her wall-to-wall carpeting and her couch. She was extremely upset that her carpet was covered but not her contents (couch). She said, "Why do I even have insurance?" which was very funny to me, because I wanted to reply, "So to be clear when you purchased this policy your primary concern was potentially bleeding from a fall on your couch and not ... oh I dunno FIRE?"
 
@seena Chewed by a "mess" do you mean Mice? I cannot determine what animal/rodent you believe damaged your windows

The older HO3 form that most companies use excludes Rodents, vermin, birds, insects. Modern forms update this to include raccoons and often damage from bats and bat guano.

So yes this a correct denial most likely unless this was caused by a raccoon and you have an older worded form, or by a wild animal like deer/elk/bear, someone else's roaming dog/cat etc not kept by you.
 
@seena Your past experience with your car is different, home and auto often have very different exclusions. Excluding rodent damage is very common for homeowners coverage.
 
@didergreen Dude, I'm serious. I cannot fathom what could fit down a chimney but also apparently destroy a room!?!? Mouse? Could def fit down a chimney but that level of destruction? Moose? Def destructive but could never fit down a chimney, or get on the roof to get to the chimney for that matter. Plus a moose would probably just break down the front door, they're angry bastards.
 
@seena well now you know you need a cap on your chimney lol.

I have not seen a home policy form that covers rodents/pests. Reason why is it is considered home maintenance to keep your home clear of those.
 

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