第三案例報告 - (Public Insurance Adjuster) PART 1

On March 2012, a homeowner of two-story single-family home in the Los Angeles County community of Rowland Heights found water dripping from the ceiling over the kitchen on the first floor. He suspected that one side of the ceiling in the kitchen had been slightly discolored for the past month.

Right after he found the water dripping, he went upstairs to the bathroom in the master bedroom, where he found that the wall where the shower was installed was wet, as he suspected it would be the source of the water intrusion. Intially, the homeowner thought it would be the problem of insufficient waterproofing plastic ring when the shower head and the cold and hot valves of the old shower were replaced, a month earlier.

The plumber, who came right after the discovery of the water leakage, told the homeowner that he needed to tear the wall to see the exact damage. However, the homeowner couldn’t allow that. It seemed that it would cost a lot of money. With great consideration, he discussed with the insurance agent, who was an old acquaintance, and the agent asked a close associate--a contractor--to check the site. The contractor also couldn’t inspect the site only with the naked eye, so the agent called this PA to check whether the homeowner could get compensation from the insurance company.

This PA inspected the site closely and identified the following points:

1) As the homeowner indicated, the back of the wall where the shower head and the cold and hot valves of shower were installed was wet.

2) This PA also noticed that the tiles on the door sill where the shower door was installed were cracked (the grout was cracked). So, during a shower there was the possibility that water from the shower door would seep into the cracks in the door sill tiles.

In that case, the water could leak onto the floor and leak out through the kitchen ceiling downstairs. In fact, this PA had several experiences like this case while working in the claims department of the insurance company. If this problem is the main cause of the water leakage, most insurance companies will deny the payment of compensation. That is because this type of water leakage isn't strictly accidental. The problem has occurred gradually, due to the aging of the structure. The technical term of the insurance company is called leakage seepage (water leaks little by little).

3) Therefore, before filing the claim you should call a leak detector and get a detailed inspection. The leak detector is able to check the water leakage without damaging the site, thereby preserving the current state. (to be continued)

Jae Park, AIC
Public Insurance Adjuster
Ex- Insurance Carrier's large & complex property loss claim adjuster
IICRC/Clean Trust- WRT, AMRT, FSRT
Jae Park & Associates, Inc.
3255 Wilshire Blvd Suite # 1414
Los Angeles, CA 90010
Business Cell # 213-572-7379
Fax# 877-277-9752
E-mail: jae.park.assc@gmail.com
Website: www.Jpadjusters.com