Posted By Sandy_Came on 05 Jan 2013 10:41 PM
Let me start by saying that I know you have a hard job and I understand that.
I am trying to understand why flood claims that have the same damage are treated so different.
A row of five town houses are hit by 8 feet of water by Sandy. The ceiling on the first floor is 8' 3" so it was missed. The lowest level is slab on grade, it is garage and entrance.
Two people who had the same flood coverage structure only are provided with documents showing damage of 6k at one place and 9k at another.
In both cases the company is AllState.
Why is the value 1/3 higher with one than the other?
Thank you
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Even though these policies are being handled by Allstate, they are simply a WYO vendor administered through the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program) Allstate does NOT establish flood guidelines, they adhere to the NFIP's mandates through the standard flood insurance policy and through memorandum's that amend the SFIP.
Maybe two different adjusters will have two different conclusions but if they do someone is wrong, the ONLY true difference is building methods and materials used. Unless these are cookie cutter new single family townhouses, building material will vary and will vary greatly from one to another.
If I have an 8'3 ceiling and an 8 foot interior water line, the ceiling is most certainly not missed and I will include R/Replace the ceilings as well. Super briefly, in regard to water lines, let's say we have a 18 inch (1 1/2 ft) water line, I am going to R/Replace 2 ft above said water line. In this example, that would be right at 3 1/2 ft. Well, it would prove more cost efficient to extend that 3 1/2 ft to 4 ft and as such I would R/Replace the drywall (interior/exterior and related components IE..Insulation/outlets/electrical) to 4 ft (with the reasoning almost all drywall comes in 32 sf sections 8ft x 4ft) Remember just because a water line is 8 ft or 1 ft or two ft, you "should " replace up to 2 ft above said water line.
So with the 18 inch water line, I am going to write to replace to 4 ft and paint and texture to 8 ft
(understand that I am only discussing the drywall related to the water line. Of course other building components will also be replaced IE... flooring/etc...)
The point to that is maybe some flood certified adjusters will NOT write that specific damage the same way and as such variants will come into play and a pricing differential will exist....MAYBE
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