Full replacement on dwelling United Policyholders Staff asked 3 years ago
Full replacement on dwelling

We received an estimate from contractor to submit to insurance to fix damage from broken pipe (black water). If the contractor exceeds the amount of the estimate due to unexpected obstacles related to damage, will the insurance company cover the total bill with full replacement insurance?

1 Answers
Michael McCutcheon Michael McCutcheon Expert answered 3 years ago

Your insurance company is obligated to pay the entire cost of the repair as long as it well documented. They owe you the cost to repair the damage, but NOT the cost of repairing the cause of the damage (in this case the broken pipe). Your contractor’s estimate should be approved ahead of time by the insurance adjuster. It needs to be in sufficient detail that the adjuster (and you) can tell what is included and what is not. That way, if anything does exceed the original authorized repair estimate, it will be easy to tell it requires an Additional Work order.