Water Damage After Fire Sandra Chinniah asked 2 weeks ago
Water Damage After Fire

Our house is in the middle of the Eaton Fire zone. We had to evacuate on Jan 8, 2025 and have not been able to return home as of yet. Our house is only 1 of 4 still intact on the whole street. The water is on but no electricity or gas. There is smoke and ash contamination. We have an open homeowners insurance claim with Mercury Insurance. Last night we went to check on the house and we heard a gushing water noise under the main floor. We went to look in the California basement and it was flooded with 3-4 inches of water. We turned of the main water supply. We don’t know if a pipe burst or what caused the major leak. We check on the house daily so we know this happened yesterday.

My question is: should we notify Mercury Insurance or do we need to find a plumber who can identify the cause of the leak and flooding? Would thus be considered to be a second claim or just an addition to the existing claim?

1 Answers
Ron Reitz Ron Reitz Expert answered 2 weeks ago
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Hi Sandra, In this case I don’t think it makes a difference of who to contact first. You can start with a plumber to come out as well as contacting Mercury and notifying them that have discovered some water damage and you are requesting their assistance in mitigating the loss. Since you were not present when the water began to flow, you are likely unaware of what the cause of it was. There are several possible scenarios for this-it could have been a build-up of pressure from local fire hydrants or the city water department, it could be from a burst or broken pipe, or even vandals, any of which could have occurred during the firefighting or immediately after. In any case it is up to the insurer to determine the exact cause, however, I would tend to think it originated from the fire itself. Your adjuster should provide guidance on this situation. If you find yourself at an impasse with Mercury and need to mitigate the damages yourself (a policy condition), then we would recommend having the plumber assess the situation and repair/replace whatever is broken or leaking. Take extensive pictures (and have the plumber take pictures of the broken part/pipe), save all parts, and have the plumber provide details as to what failed and why.
If the plumbing failure is related to the fire, then it should be considered part of the same claim.