Others exclude damage due to gradual leaks. Many homeowner policies exclude water-pipe losses altogether. If the entire house is flooded, it’s probably the result of a supply line or an outside source of water – not a clogged drain pipe. “If they say, ‘the kitchen,’ then, we’re skeptical that it’s the main drain line.”Īnother rule of thumb: Household drain lines don’t hold that much water. “Always ask: Where was the claimant at the time of the overflow? Where were they standing? in the kitchen? In the bathroom?” Grindley said. If the sink, 36 inches above the floor, is overflowing – but the floor-level shower drain is not – it means the sink drain is clogged, not the drain lines for the whole house.įor that reason, it’s important for insurance adjusters to quiz homeowners, when possible, on where and when the backup was spotted. A backed-up main drain line will force water up through the lowest opening first, Grindley explained. One way to tell if the blockage is in the main drain pipe beneath the house or underneath the sink is to see where the overflow began. More likely, he said, the growth is from years of leaks in plastic sink drains or supply lines, or from seepage around the edge of the basin. In a number of cases his firm has investigated, the homeowners, the public adjusters or plumbing contractors have claimed that mold and mildew under sinks is the result of backed-up cast iron pipes. Grindley said many insurance claims start with a clogged kitchen sink. But they can rust to some degree and may develop deposits on the inside that can constrict the flow of drain water, something that a growing number of claims have attempted to capitalize on, he said. In many homes, the pipes have been in use for more than a century. They’re strong, and they don’t break if you hit them with a shovel when you’re digging in the back yard.” “Cast iron in many ways is superior to other types of material,” Grindley said.
SRWARE IRON CAST PROBLEM FULL
Cast iron pipes don’t often need full replacement, and there are ways to defeat erroneous or spurious pipe claims and litigation, they argue. Grindley and Hand-Gallegos said that many of those assertions are exaggerated.
This risk is high in Florida, with its high humidity and salt-rich soil, the firm’s website said. homes have cast iron pipes, “an alarming amount” of which are experiencing problems. Replacing the drain pipes in a home can cost $20,000 to $100,000, the Morgan & Morgan website notes.Īnother claimants’ law firm, Florin Roebig of West Palm Beach, reports that some 76 million U.S. One recent television advertisement from Orlando-based Morgan & Morgan, which calls itself America’s largest injury law firm, for example, flashes large amounts of cash that may be available to homeowners whose dwellings are more than 45 years old and which may have sewage drainage problems. “The biggest issue is not what’s going on inside the pipes, but what’s going on with the insurance claims industry,” said David Grindley, a forensic structural engineer who also spoke at the conference. Patterns in property claims,” said Cassandra Hand-Gallegos, adjuster and CEO with CCMS & Associates in Dunedin, Florida, who spoke last week at the Florida Defense Lawyers Association claims conference in Orlando. It’s possible the pipes could lead to many more claims and suits in coming years, after Florida lawmakers took action designed to reduce roof claims and litigation. The pipe systems have become targets for some of Florida’s largest plaintiffs’ law firms, according to insurance attorneys, adjusters and engineers.
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