Electrical Damage (Insurance or no?)

[Cody Brown]

I have a duplex (built around 1940) that has an older fuse style breaker box.  It overloading this weekend and burnt part of the breaker box.  I had one electrician come out this weekend and recommend a full rewire of the home which would cost roughly $12k to accomplish.  The home has part of the outlets grounded and part of them not grounded and I believe it has aluminum wiring.  I have a standard landlord policy with a $1k deductible but I'm not sure if I should pursue getting my insurance involved since I don't know if this type of full rewire would normally be covered by them.  I do have lost rental income coverage as well.  I'm happy to provide more detail, but I'm not entirely sure what else to provide.  Any help, advice, or questions are appreciated.  The property is in Arkansas. 

[Greg Scott]

I've made about 10 insurance claims over the years, totaling over $1.5M in payouts.

There is no downside in starting a claim, which you can always drop later.  I'd strongly urge you to hire a public adjuster.  (This is NOT an adjuster provided by your insurance company.  A public adjuster works for you.)  A public adjuster can tell you what is covered and get maximum payout to cover your repairs and loss of business.

[Joe Splitrock]

Originally posted by @Cody Brown:

I have a duplex (built around 1940) that has an older fuse style breaker box.  It overloading this weekend and burnt part of the breaker box.  I had one electrician come out this weekend and recommend a full rewire of the home which would cost roughly $12k to accomplish.  The home has part of the outlets grounded and part of them not grounded and I believe it has aluminum wiring.  I have a standard landlord policy with a $1k deductible but I'm not sure if I should pursue getting my insurance involved since I don't know if this type of full rewire would normally be covered by them.  I do have lost rental income coverage as well.  I'm happy to provide more detail, but I'm not entirely sure what else to provide.  Any help, advice, or questions are appreciated.  The property is in Arkansas. 

 I would be a little cautious. Some insurance policies have specific terms around aluminum wiring. If the overloading was related to undersized panel or oxidation on aluminum wiring, insurance may not only reject the claim, but also cancel the policy. You could start with an "off the record" discussion with your insurance agent. You could also get the electricians opinion on the cause to see if it may be covered. I would avoid making claims that will be rejected. I have had policies dropped and I have even heard of people having trouble getting anyone to insure a property.

[Colleen F.]

@Cody Brown to add to what others have said the insurance policy will cover damage, they will not cover an entire re-wire of the house. That is on you. I would talk to the agent about what might be covered. It may be surprisingly little.   Frequently people screw in the wrong size fuse and that can result in the fuse not popping in an overload and that is one of the reasons breakers are a better option. 

 This electric job probably has a couple of components.   I would get another electrician out and have them price replacing the box vs the rest separately.  But if you have aluminum wiring  you need to know because you might need to do it all at once. 

[Cody Brown]

Thanks for all the replies so far.  I have 3 electricians coming out today to give separate quotes and I'll update when I hear back. 

[Scott M.]

Glad to see you are getting other quotes and maybe even some will have a different scope of work.  Well done.  +1 For public adjuster, that is always a great way to go.