Two things I learned this week

-Always keep your thermostats above 60 degrees, preferably 62-64, in the winter. A pipe in my mom's house froze and burst to the tune of $1200 worth of damage. That doesn't include some ceilings she'll have to repaint and repairs to her closet which the repair man had to rip apart to get to the pipe. It could have been worse but it's still upsetting. Since I moved out she doesn't go on the second floor much and the repair man said she kept the heat too low upstairs which has its own thermostat.

-New homeowners: If the cost of your home insurance is lumped into your mortgage and it gets paid out of escrow, don't just assume they're paying it on your behalf. I called to confirm and they said they had no copy of the bill, which I'm pretty sure I did give them, but even if they did they would need my authorization to pay it!! Gotta love that one-they're pretty quick to collect the money-not to shell it out!!

good pointers Jenn...


just combining the 2 thoughts...I hear insurance can drop you if you claim water damage...(at least that happened to one of my neighbors here in CA)

and water damage follows you through your life...even if you move out of the home...

Sorry about the damages your Mom had.

I have heard the same re: water claims.

My DH grandparents had some water damage a few years back and put in a claim. It was through Geico, which he had been using even before it was public (used to be just for federal employees) and he had them for like 30 some odd years with no claims, and they dropped him. No one could believe it!!

Your poor mom!

Thanks for the heads up.

You are so right about the temperature. We have a mother daughter house and my Mom lives in the apt downstairs. Her kitchen pipes froze last week and we had someone come in the other day and he said she needs to keep her thermostat higher - she keeps it so low - but she gave me grief over it - 'Im not cold' she says, meanwhile it's like 60 degrees down there - if that. I tried to tell her in the nicest way possible....'if the pipes burst, it's our house that's getting damaged and we dont want to have to incur the cost' I'm going to get on her again tomorrow.

Tenants!!

Thanks for the reminder, sorry your Mom had to go through the mess and cost

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Posted by yabbobay

good pointers Jenn...


just combining the 2 thoughts...I hear insurance can drop you if you claim water damage...(at least that happened to one of my neighbors here in CA)

and water damage follows you through your life...even if you move out of the home...

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Really??? My DH and I are putting in a claim for the same thing! $1600 worth! Now I'm thinking that perhaps it's not worth it. Can we ask our insurance co. if they would drop us?

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Can we ask our insurance co. if they would drop us?

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Good question. I wonder.... There's a few people on this board knowledgable about insurance and hopefully one of them will see your question.

Based on hearsay, $1,600 sounds like something you might be better off paying out of pocket. I know it's a big pill to swallow at once but between your deductible and future rate increases you might be better off.

Winter sucks.

Good pointers..thanks!

I spoke to one of my Bms today and her pipes burst in her summer home in Hampton Bays and the house is RUINED..It literally has to be gutted out. Everything except her kitchen cabinets she just got installed are ruined. All the walls buckled, all her furniture, etc. She's devastated. She's going to go through her insurance (she has Statefarm) and get a contractor to do all the work.