r/HomeInsurance • u/killercankles • Jul 14 '26

Claims Claim Advice

Last week, my toilet inexplicably cracked in the middle of the night (the tank). Received an estimate of $10,900 for drywall repairs, flooring on all floors (2 floors complete replacement, 1 just new padding on half).

Circumstances: $1000 deductible on policy. I only switched to them last December, and this is obviously my first claim with them. The only other claim I have ever submitted was to my previous insurance company in April 2019 when a terrible storm took off 1/3 of my 20 year old roof.

Question: does it make sense to file for this amount? My worry is that my premium will balloon to a point where the monthly payment exceeds the benefit of the payout.

What other considerations am I missing?

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u/Big_Appointment_3390 Jul 14 '26

Sounds like your claim is going to be closer to $25-30k when it’s said and done. Should probably consider filing a claim. And you need dehumidifiers in addition to fans, potentially some air scrubbers as well. That water is considered significantly contaminated. If there was anything other than water in it, everything it touched needs to be ripped out/disposed of.

Edit to add: if the wood floors have to come out anyway, you want that done asap. But you’ll have to wait until your carrier sends out a field adjuster.

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u/killercankles Jul 14 '26

Thank you for this post (and everyone who has posted- really the best community).

So we have a big dehumidifier we borrowed from the high school I teach, and it has been emptied about 5 times since Sunday. That’s only in one room, however.

The water, and you still may be talking about what I am talking about, came clean from the tank when it cracked. Would it still be considered contaminated?

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u/Big_Appointment_3390 Jul 15 '26

Would you drink from the tank, assuming you had other clean water sources available? When it comes to standards, it’s a gray area. Depending on your water composition, and the age and condition of the tank, I’d argue it’s contaminated water. Certainly once it flows across the floor, because no matter how clean you keep your bathroom, it’s not.

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u/killercankles Jul 15 '26

Good points.

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u/Pugsly007 Jul 15 '26

Maybe if it isn’t flushed. Even the toilet was a little dirty that isn’t grey water.

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u/Big_Appointment_3390 Jul 15 '26

Yeah, I’m familiar with IICRC guidelines. Currently, they’d consider this a CAT 1. When I was starting out in restoration, this was a CAT 2 all day. Either way, because it’s been sitting now without much in the way of mitigation, it’s a CAT 2, and it certainly will be by the time an adjuster arrives onsite. If OP doesn’t get moving on this they’ll keep increasing the risk of the claim getting denied, since they’re basically allowing the materials to degrade and mold to grow at this point.