"v" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:25:19 -0500, someone wrote:


....I would like to purchase a
pressure washer to clean my home.

No way will they pay for a purchase. If its considered covered
damage, they will pay for the work or the rental of the equipment but
not pay for equipment for you to keep. The general opportunities to
take advantage are obvious - so there is a general practice even if
you claim that in some specific case it would be cheaper, etc.

You could probably rent one, but I'd still be concerned with this
being borderline, cleaning vs. clean-up, cleaning of dirt vs. repair
of damage. If its approved by the company as "damage" you could hire
someone to do it - yeah even if that would cost more than buying
yourself a pressure washer.

It is very odd trying to figure out what insurance will cover. I wish I
knew better, since it would help me get the maximum benefit from my
coverage. I know several people who bought generators to power
refrigerators, etc. after the hurricane. Insurance reimbursed them for
those purchases. I know several people who bought chainsaws to remove trees
from off of items on their property. Those also were reimbursed.

I'm not trying to 'game' the system, but if there's something that insurance
will cover, I'd rather get the equipment and do it now rather than wait who
knows how long until I can see an adjustor. I'd also like to put the storm
behind me, but the more I take care of now before the adjustor comes, the
more I'm likely to be out of pocket for the repairs.

Around here, hiring anyone to do anything cleanup related costs an
incredible sum. I know people who are paying outrageous amount for tree
removal, etc. Unless you have a big job, it's not likely that you even can
find anyone willing to take on the work.

I fully understand that insurance companies will take quite some time to get
around to everyone. I just wish that in the interim there were some way to
get an answer to my questions. At this point I have been given the name of
the adjustor assigned to my case, but the phone call I made to him last week
has gone unreturned so far.

Tony