My mom's new house flooded because house inspector did not do thorough job, insurance wont cover anything HELP?

Question

My mom bought a new (to her, but others had lived there before her) mobile home in a seniors' community park by the California ocean. She is 62, and I am 19. I live with my boyfriend while attending college, but today my mom called up panicked because water was gushing from the walls and inches of water flooded one of the rooms. The floor is destroyed along with many valuable items.
What happened was one of the drain pipes in the house was old and had a hole in it, and flooded the room when it rained today. My mom called the insurance guy, and he said he was ONLY coming over because he HAS to by law, but that he won't cover a cent of the damage because it was not a sudden incident like a fire.
I don't understand how my mom has to pay for all of this damage when the inspector did a poor job and only looked at the outside of the house, and the incident WAS sudden.
What should my mom do? She bought the house a few months ago, and had someone come over to reinspect the house and tell her what she needed fixed. She did EVERYTHING they said, but they NEVER mentioned anything about broken pipes!
Is there anything my mom can do to get some of the damage paid off by one of the people actually at fault? Thank you and I am so depressed for my mom! She says she might have to work until she is 70! It makes me so angry these people didn't do their job thoroughly and now my mom has to pay probably thousands of dollars!? Pls help!

Answer 1

Call a couple of lawyers in your Mom's area and tell them the situation. Generally, most lawyers give a free consultation. They will tell you if you can file a legal claim for negligence or the inspector's mistake and if it will succeed according to laws in your state.



The first issue I see here is the home inspection that was done. You said "the inspector...only looked at the outside of the house". Why didn't the inspector enter the home? That is what a home inspection is! Your Mom, or her representative, should have been at the house while it was being inspected so the inspector either didn't do his job at all, or someone allowed him to get away with the job half done in the first place. Which is it?



You say the house was reinspected for faults after purchase, is there proof/documentation of it? Was the inside of the house inspected as well? The pipes that were broken, are they visible? or behind walls? If they're hidden, there is no reasonable expectation for the inspector to have known there were broken pipes.



I'm sorry to only have more questions than answers for you. After you've made sure the types of documentation your Mom has for the inspection that was done, call up a lawyer. Unfortunately, many older homes have pipe issues like that and could cost thousands of dollars to fix. Without home insurance (some states even require flood insurance), there isn't much the insurance company is legally responsible for.



Note, if you decide to fight the insurance company on this issue attorney fees and court costs can be very expensive. (It may be better for your Mom to fix the damage and move on with better insurance.) On the other hand, a phone call from a lawyer could make the insurance company respond more favorably to the situation.

Answer 2

Mom needs to look at the contract she had with the inspector, first - to see if there's a limitation to what he inspected, or see what disclaimers she had, to see if there is any recourse against the inspector (not likely). Second, she needs to see if there was any prior damage, if it was declared on the sales agreement, or declared repaired, to see if she has any recourse against the seller (possibly). Third, she needs to talk to her agent, and get that declination in writing - if there was an unknown, sudden rust through of the drain line that caused water to run to the interior, that very well MIGHT be covered by her mobile home policy, depending on the location of the drain. And if the damage was caused by water BACKUP, rather than running through the wall, the AGENT should have offered "backup of sewers and drains" coverage. That is potentially an "errors and ommissions" claim on the part of the agent, UNLESS, your mother either refused to buy the coverage, or didn't use an agent when she bought the coverage. Wait for the insurance company to deny the claim, in writing. Many, many times, the person taking the initial report, will give you incorrect information about whether or not the claim is actually covered. In other words, it's too early to panic. But tell mom, not to throw ANYTHING out until the insurance company tells her she can.

Answer 3

Working in residential construction, I can tell you this is all too common. Pipes are nearly impossible to inspect because they are inside walls, so I really cant say this is the fault of the inspector.



That being said, I can see no reason at all for this not to be covered by her insurance. She should speak to a lawyer.

Answer 4

sue the pants off of the inspector