The conversation went something like this:
"State Farm, can I help you." And from there it was all downhill.
See, I've got a water leak. I know this because hurricane Frances came thru and my front living ceiling fell down, wet. Wet = Leak. See how that works. Simple, right? I have homeowners insurance, so wouldn't the rationale be that I was covered? HA! That's what I get for trying to be rational.
"Did a tree hit your roof?" the agent asked nicely, after taking down my policy number, etc.
"No, no tree. and it's not the roof. It's the bay window that's leaking I think. The room is on the middle floor of my house, it's not on the roof line," I offer.
"Did a tree hit the window?" She asked. I can see this isn't going to go well. (sigh)
"No tree hit my house." I replied, again.
"Was it storm damage?" She asked...
"Well, there is a storm. Hurricane Frances." I explained.
"But is it storm damage?" she asked again.
"Well," I try again.."there is a storm here, and my house is damaged."
"Did a tree hit your house?" she asked. So far she's tried to get that damn tree on the roof, the window and now she's shooting for the whole house.
"No. There is no tree involved. The heavy rain and strong winds from thehurricane have forced water into my house from somewhere, and the living room ceiling has partially collapsed." I give it one more try.
"So your roof is leaking."
Grrr... I'm ready to plant a tree on my roof about now. But I take a deep breath and continue..."No, it's the bay window, I think. I'm taking an educated guess here. It's kinda hard to tell at the moment where exactly the problem is coming from." I'm trying sooooooo hard to be calm now, which isn't easy for a redhead to do sometimes.
"Is there plumbing above the room?" YAY, she didn't ask a roof question! I might have a chance afterall.
"No, there is no plumbing above the living room. There is a bedroom."
"Is there a lot of water and damage?" She asked.
"Uhmmm," I look around at the soggy couch, pooled water, mushy ceiling drywall scattered everywhere ... "What's a lot?" I ask...
"More than your deductable." she crisply replies.
"I don't know. I haven't had time to get a 'construction guy' out here to look at the damage." (And I realize I have no idea WHAT my deductible is either!)
"Well, since there wasn't a tree that did damage, I'm not sure this is covered. Call back the Claim office this afternoon and one of the claim teams will talk to you." end of conversation.
So I get "construction guy" out here 2 days later. Turns out the damage was less than my deductable. (Learning curve) I make a note to seriously review my homeowners policy and make some changes, and tell "construction guy" to go ahead and fix the problem. YAY! It's caulked, sealed and new drywall is up! I'll take a loss on the couch, clean the carpet, and will plant a tree close to my house just in case I need one one day.
Then Ivan hit.... and so did the ceiling, again. Seems it's more than the bay window...
Quick! Anybody got a spare tree?
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