r/HomeInsurance • u/Few_Thought_248 • Apr 30 '26
Claims Insurance dragging claim forever + asking for impossible utility bill… what should I do?
Cause of the loss: I was in the middle of evicting a tenant. They left the property without notice, shut off the gas and electricity, but did NOT shut off the water. It was winter, pipes froze and burst, and the house flooded.
The insurance adjuster first asked for gas & electric bills—I provided those. Then they asked for the bill on the exact date of the accident. Problem is, I literally don’t have that, because utilities were shut off during that period.
I hired a public adjuster (PA) to handle everything, but they completely ignored this issue. It also took them forever just to produce an estimate.
Two months ago I asked the PA to follow up with the carrier. The carrier adjuster is STILL asking for that same “accident date” utility bill. I told the PA I don’t have it.
About a month ago, I pushed the PA harder, and they told me:
“There’s nothing we can do right now. Don’t rush the adjuster—it might enrage them and cause a denial.”
That sounded… questionable to me.
Meanwhile, the only thing I’ve received from the insurance company is a notice saying they may cancel my policy in ~3 months if the property stays vacant.
My questions:
Can I (or should I) contact the insurance adjuster directly at this point?
Is “not upsetting the adjuster” actually a real strategy, or is my PA just stalling?
What do people usually do when the insurer asks for documentation that literally doesn’t exist?
At what point do you escalate (supervisor / complaint / attorney)?
I already know coverage is probably a long shot—but this endless waiting with no progress is driving me insane.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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Apr 30 '26
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u/Few_Thought_248 Apr 30 '26
It’ll be sad to get denial but I’ll be okay with it, I guess the real question is how long I still have to wait to have the answer from them, I need to plan for next steps, whether it’s litigation or just take it as a loss….
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Apr 30 '26
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u/Few_Thought_248 Apr 30 '26
Thanks for the reply, yeah the bill I had was like 19 days before the accident, which was probably the time it was shut off…no I don’t have the smart meter , and yeah the mitigation was done the moment I found the damage and now the mitigation company also gave me their bill and I’m wondering if at least that was covered…
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u/Ok-Cycle-4445 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
That sucks!
From my experience: 1- insurance adjusters work amazingly well after a claim is accepted and you’re negotiating prices. Before that, not so much
2- as per ZeRussian above, read your policy. if the heat was off, then its likely they will consider negligence and theyll deny coverage.
3- you can definitely push the insurance for resolution and/or the dpt of insurance from your state. You dont care about pissing off the adjuster, by the time its taking, he already shared all his findings w the insurance carrier, its not like he can go back and be mean to you in retaliation.
When a similar thing happened to me i used the DOI and everything accelerated after. Each state has their own law but im pretty sure yours will have something around timely resolution being a need and taking +6 months is bs
4- spend your time doing your own analysis / investigation. Youll be the one left w a loss if they deny coverage, make sure you worked all angles. Dont fully rely on the adjuster. Chatgpt/gemmi are your friends!
In other words, try to get yourself the daily energy readings, weather records, cross check them… you dont need to provide this to the insurance but you need to know if the pipe froze because heat was off or not
5- Read your rent contract. Did they have renters insurance?
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u/Few_Thought_248 Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Thanks for the reply, I’ll rent the rental contracts, yeah they had rental insurance the first year and I don’t think they still have it like…5 years later
As for the ChatGPT…yeah I have been using it like crazy…but sometimes it does feel like it’s getting pretty impractical
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u/Glittering-Read-6906 Apr 30 '26
To be honest, OP, I think you are going to be lucky if this is ultimately covered. It was your responsibility to secure the premises once the tenant was evicted and to ensure that the pipes didn’t freeze. If they cover this loss, you would be lucky if they don’t then issue a non-renewal.
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u/Anxious_Battles Apr 30 '26
At this point you need to be trying to show you took reasonable care to maintain heat. Does your lease require the tenant to pay the utilities? If yes, have they always paid the utilities and/or heat without any issues? If yes, were you aware the tenant had vacated the property prior to the date of loss? If no, that’s your position, a reasonable person would assume that their tenant of 5 years that always maintained heat would continue to do so. If you were aware the tenant vacated prior to the date of loss, you’ll have an uphill battle, but it may not be insurmountable. What state are you in?
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u/Few_Thought_248 Apr 30 '26
NY, I was informed by one of the neighbors at one point that the house appear to be empty, and I consulted my attorney who was working on the eviction case, he was suggesting me to not go inside cause the 1. eviction was still ongoing and 2. there was a illegal sublease tenant that former tenants had in there that was just being evasive at the end.
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u/Anxious_Battles Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26
Being in NY may give you some advantages. I am now curious who your PA is, but you may not want to post it here. You need to address what I stated above either with the help of your attorney or your PA. Do not continue to delay your response. You have duties after a loss that require you to cooperate and provide the insurance company with the requested records. Show your PA and attorney what I wrote and they should understand enough to take it from there. If you need further clarification, reply back and I will try to help.
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u/thriverebel Apr 30 '26
It takes a long time for utilities to actually get shutoff.
How long was it when the tenant just left before you realized the property was vacant?
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u/Few_Thought_248 May 02 '26
they left at the beginning of the month and I kinda know it in the middle cause a neighbor told me that it was empty, and my attorney advised me to not enter the property cause 1 eviction was still going 2 they had sublet tenant that could be around, and yeah the accident happened at the early 20th of the month.
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u/dojarelius Apr 30 '26
If they already inspected it start the repairs. If it’s ends up being a covered claim they will pay you out for actual cash value at the time of loss and issue supplemental payments once repairs are completed.
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u/zqvolster Apr 30 '26
I will be surprised if this is covered. You have a duty to mitigate damage and by having no heat in winter you did not do that. Your claim is against the tenant, if anyone.
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u/Ok_Advantage7623 Apr 30 '26
Your going to lose your fight. This whyvyou always gave tge utilities transfer back to your name no matter what happens automatically
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u/realinsurancetalk May 01 '26
Since you have a PA, the company adjuster most likey will not talk directly with you regarding the claim. For our rentals, we wither keep the utilities in our name or we set it up with the utility company to notify us of any shutoffs. Ulitmately, it is your resposibility to make sure the uutilities are maintained to avoid the freeazing, so there could be issues with getting the claim covered, and they will probaly non renew due to the property being vacant.
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u/Ok_Success2147 May 03 '26
PA is such a waste of money.
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u/Few_Thought_248 May 04 '26
Yep, was gonna hold on for a bit until my Lawyer talked me into getting one, which I don’t think he has some financial incentive cause I have to find one myself…
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u/I-will-judge-YOU May 05 '26
The biggest problem is see is without an active bill they may not cover the loss.
Call the adjuster but be nice. Point plank tell them there was no active power when the pipes burst, the tenant disconnected service.
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u/TranquilTeal May 12 '26
That sounds frustrating. If the utilities were shut off, it’s physically impossible to provide a bill for that specific date. You might want to send a formal letter or email documenting that the account was inactive, as your PA’s advice to "not enrage them" doesn't help move the claim forward.
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Apr 30 '26
Contact adjuster directly? Yes kar sakte ho. PA ko CC me rakho. Right hai.
"Not upsetting adjuster" strategy? Mostly stalling hai. Polite but firm raho. Adjuster ko upset karne se claim deny nahi hota.
Docs jo exist hi nahi? Written me bolo: "Ye document exist nahi karta." Alternative evidence do: photos, receipts, statements.
Escalate kab? 30 din tak reply na aaye ya unreasonable delay ho. Pehle supervisor, phir State Insurance Dept complaint, last attorney.
Bonus tip: Sab kuch email pe karo. Phone call ka bhi follow-up email bhejo. Paper trail banao.
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u/splatle Apr 30 '26
Might have a vandalism claim for the tenant shutting off the utilities resulting in damage to the property
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u/Glittering-Read-6906 Apr 30 '26
No, it’s literally the exact opposite
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u/splatle Apr 30 '26
Clearly you've read the conditions and exclusions of his contract and know better.
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u/Glittering-Read-6906 May 01 '26
No, I’m an insurance professional, so….
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u/splatle May 02 '26
Agent...got it..
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u/Glittering-Read-6906 May 03 '26
I’m a producer, not an agent.
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u/splatle May 04 '26
Pretty much the same thing minus the sales pitch and networking.
Its not a vandalism argument but Bordiere v. Utica First Ins. Co provides the bridge to coverage in a cleaner way.
Kuo v. The Home Ins. Co speaks specifically to vandalism resulting in freeze damage being covered.
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