Insurance claims for home ice-damming can be tricky

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Insurance claims for home ice-damming can be tricky

By PHIL MULKINS Action Line

1/29/2007

Tulsa World - Tulsa,OK

http://www.tulsaworld.com/ActionLineStory.asp?

ID=070129_Ac_A15_Insur53803

Dear Action Line: I have been hearing about ice dams in the news

recently. Does insurance cover them? -- S.W., Tulsa.

Vaughan, insurance industry analyst and owner of Vaughan

Insurance Group, said standard homeowner's insurance does cover " ice-

damming damage " -- the warping of soffits and wallboard soaking by

melt-water backing up. It is covered as storm damage -- although ice-

damming is something that typically happens in the northern climes

and filing such claims here will likely bring out the roof

inspectors.

He said most policies require homeowners to show due diligence in

preventing storm damage from further damaging the structure (such as

not leaving a hole in the roof to take on more rain-water damage,

etc.). But in the case of ice-damming the homeowner is not expected

to endanger his health by getting up on an icy roof to remove the

offending ice. However, a claims adjustor might take a dim view of a

roof's guttering system he finds packed with rotting leaves. It

would behoove the homeowner to apply deicer to all guttering -- the

next time the roofs freeze over.

In most ice-damming situations, the layer of frozen precipitation on

the shingles absorbs heat coming from the attic or during temporary

daytime thaws and

the ice over the unheated overhang does not melt (the dam).

Meltwater creeps uphill, under the ice layer, and pools upward

beneath the shingle overlaps and continues upward until it seeps

under the roofing-felt overlaps and onto the decking until it finds

a seam between decking sheets to drip through. Then it runs down the

attic-side of the decking, dripping into insulation and pooling on

the ceiling wallboard. This manifests almost immediately -- the

wallboard becoming soaked enough to let go of its joist-connection

nails. It can also run down rafters to the wall top-plates and soak

wall insulation and exterior-wall wallboard.

The bugaboo here is mold. Residential structural mold is becoming a

big deal in Tulsa now -- just like it was in Texas in the 1990s,

said Vaughan. Although some environmental scientists contend that

mold in the environment is no big thing -- that we are all exposed

to it on a daily basis, Vaughan says mold in the home environment is

a " very serious health and insurance issue. "

" There ARE two points of belief about it, " he said, " one being 'It's

harmless, it's not going to hurt you,' and the other: 'It can be

absolutely deadly to people with asthma and other respiratory

illnesses.' This is the problem with ice-damming and moisture

invasion -- it causes mold to grow in household surfaces that have

heretofore been dry and not producing mold spores. "

He said insurance companies aren't likely to deny ice-dam claims due

to " failure to show due-diligence, " but warns against automatically

turning in an ice-dam meltwater-invasion claim or especially a mold

claim. The insurance industry keeps track of mold and water-damage

claims -- thanks to the beating it took in Texas. Your insurer might

pay off on your claim but it could make selling your home more

difficult or make it impossible to rebid your homeowner's

insurance. " If at all possible, it would be cheaper to pay for mold-

mitigation yourself than to have a mold claim on your record, "

Vaughan said.

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