Forums

Not sure if I mentioned this is in Texas.

I'm trying to paint a picture in my mind of how water from the ground surface found it's way to the range hood vent.  But unless we're overlooking something here as far as the actual cause of loss, there would not seem to be any 1st party coverage (not a sudden overflow of a plumbing system, no exterior opening created by a covered event, etc.).   I do see, though, a neighbor that should call his own insurance carrier and also inform his landscaping company to put their liability carrier on notice.  Hope your friend took some photos before they re-opened that drainage area, or had some other witnesses to it.   

In the last year since the fence went up and she put in the landscaping that pushed the water in we have had lots of rain which is out of the ordinary for Dallas. The neighbor refuses to call her own insurance company. As for the landscaping company, I would bet it's probably someone who does it out of their truck and not a real company but I'm not completely sure.

So you think the neighbor's insurance will cover this if a claim is put in?

I am confused also. The down draft vents I have seen always seem to be about 3 feet from grade level or at least 2 feet above the top of the slab. I would think you would need a water hose to put water inside the house. I am just not convinced from what Step described is water intrusion from an adjacent property with a higher grade level even its behind a retaining wall.

Another clue would be the accused neighbor seems to understand physical evidence and does not agree with this theory.

Have they explored other possible causes of the loss?  A slow leak from the sink supply line, dishwasher or ice-maker line could be migrating under the flooring with no visible water above surface.  Or maybe wind driven rain running down the wall cavity & then under the flooring.  If this home has a basement & a view from beneath, that could help rule out those types of potential causes. Installing wood flooring under appliances does raise the floor surface and can create stress in the existing water supply joints/couplings if allowances weren't made.

Going to battle with a neighbor is never a pleasant experience.  It's always a lot easier if you have a covered loss, and the big bad insurance company subrogates against the liable party.   Then the homeowner isn't the bad guy when demands are presented.  

Problem here lies with an unproven/unknown cause of loss.   Loss should be turned into the HO carrier, and let them incur the expense of determining the COL.     

Well I could see where the paint on the bricks had eaten away on the part of the house where the water was blocked. I thought the vent was in a strange place as well... being at the bottom of the house.

The worst part of the warped wood floor is on the inside directly on the opposite side of the wall where the water was trapped.

The neighbor is not cooperating with him at all. She will not tell him who her carrier is. He threatened to take a chainsaw to the fence piece that is on his property. It is getting ugly.

Mike's advice above is good.  Since the HO policy is, in all likelihood, an "all risks" policy, the onus is on the HO carrier to prove it is an excluded cause of loss. 

Then the denial of coverage (let's say it is determined to be ground water) becomes exhibit A in the lawsuit that will certainly do no more harm to the neighbor relations than already seems to be present.  It's amazing how quickly the insurance carier info comes out in the open when the complaint has been served.  Beats the chainsaw to the fence method of handling neighbor disputes.

(You realize I was forced to make this post so Mike and I wouldn't be tied at 232 posts each.)