Have you ever had to relocate while your insurer repairs the damages incurred to your home?
Recently, while I was visiting family in Europe, the toilet tank located in the suite above broke and overflowed. My neighbours were at work and came home to discover the flood, but given they didn’t hear from me they thought they must have come home in the nick of time and that the damage was minor.
It wasn’t.
For several hours water poured through the ceiling and down my walls. It split the drywall, baseboards and crown moldings, buckled the wood floors, fried the light fixtures and ceiling fans, and splintered the base of my custom kitchen and bedroom built-ins. The water damage was significant.
Flash forward to now, and I’m ensconced in a furnished basement rental apartment up the street for four weeks, as the insurers coordinate a significant repair of my dreamy bespoke loft. Yes, the very loft featured in our Renovation Blog that underwent a $200,000 transformation last year. Click HERE for one of the ‘Peek-A-View’ posts. Here it is now:
As a creature of habit whose home and work space are his sanctuary, being displaced with a disrupted routine has left me admittedly out of sorts. Not having the needs of daily life at hand, limited to the contents of a suitcase, and living below grade with seven foot ceilings is a strange affair. As nice as the apartment is, after living the loft life under soaring ceilings bathed in light, it feels like I’ve been banished to a white collar prison cell.
I know it could be worse.
As water-logged as my place was, I’m grateful that few personal effects were damaged. My art collection remained intact despite some broken frames (they fell off the wall when the picture handers got loose from the moisture), and the water dripped all around, but not on, my computers, printers, and files. It could have been much more tragic a flood.
I was grateful to have my policy up to date with ample coverage for all my belongings, as well as the renovation upgrades and betterments to my suite. Remember, if you own a condominium, your bulding’s insurance policy only covers a basic condominium unit, so any upgrades including flooring, wall coverings, draperies, cabinetry and millwork is the responsbility of a unit owner. Did you buy your resale condominium from someone else? Make sure you have additional coverage to address any items which may not have been installed by the original builder. And note, any upgrades done by the original builder may still need to be covered by your own policy if the condominium policy stipulates otherwise. Not sure? Then use the same insurer who holds the policy for the condominium to cover your contents and betterments policy. That way, you’ll only have to deal with one company resolving your damages instead of pitting two insurers who, at the end of the day, truly don’t want to incur any expense.
Protect yourself.
Even realtors have to weather the storm of a flood. It’s not the least bit fun, but if you have ample coverage you’ll have greater peace of mind.
Have questions? Please know we’re here to help!
~ Steven and the urbaneer team