DENVER (KDVR) — Homeowners in the Berkeley neighborhood still need repairs after a water main break back in April flooded dozens of homes.
Block after block was flooded and about 47 homes were impacted by a water conduit bursting. Now months later, things look taken care of, but homeowners said it’s still a headache for them.
Video from the air shows knee-deep water and just the magnitude of the mess. However, still this month some homeowners said contractors are dragging out the repair process.
During the flood, Stacy Bramer’s deck was so waterlogged it broke in half and floated away, her shed was ruined, her basement was submerged and a ton of personal belongings were soaked.
She said Denver Waters contractor restoration was not able to handle the amount of work that this incident took.
“Honestly, I feel like my basement should not take more than three days at the maximum to fix it. Meanwhile, I’m watching this go up and be fixed and repaired and ready to put on the market, in less time than it would too. I’m still sitting here waiting for my little tiny 400 square-foot basement to be just painted and the window fixed and to be done,” said Bramer. “So I can get a washer and dryer and do my laundry at my own house.”
However, Denver Water said Pro Restoration is the city’s No-Fault Main Break Assistance Program contract and they are responsible for mitigation only.
“We developed this [assistance] program because we understand how impactful the breaks can be to our customers and we want to do right by them. It’s not designed to return home to a better place than they were before, but we want to do what we can to get back to livable,” said Travis Thompson with Denver Water.
Pro-restoration sent a statement to the Problem Solvers.
The no fault main break was an unfortunate and unprecedented circumstance. Professional Restoration is proud to have been selected by Denver Water to serve as their water mitigation contractor, assisting the homeowners who voluntarily participate in Denver Water’s assistance program. Professional Restoration is not contracted by Denver Water for reconstruction or structural repair services and plays no role in determining coverage.”
Pro Restoration
Denver Water said when all is said and done, they’ll pay out $5 million to people impacted.
Denver Water said their No-Fault Main Break Assistance Program bridges the gap and pays for costs that insurance companies don’t typically cover.
However, after Denver Water gave Bramer a check for mitigation, she filed a claim with her insurance, State Farm, to finish the repairs. But a few months later, she received a letter that State Farm was dropping her due to too much claim activity.
“They claimed it was for two reasons, I had hail damage to my roof so I had my whole roof replaced in 2017 and they paid for that, and then because of this,” said Bramer. “What they told me is that I wasn’t paying enough or that the premiums that I’ve been paying them for the last nine almost 10 years, did not cover the cost of those two claims.”
State Farm responded and said they can’t speak to specifics:
Due to our company privacy policy, we can’t speak to the specifics of any individual customer claim or policy information. What I can tell you is that State Farm values the relationships we have with our customers, and that is why underwriting decisions are never made lightly. We look at each customer’s unique circumstances on a case-by-case basis. State Farm considers factors such as the location of the property relative to natural hazards, condition of the property, and the customer’s past claim activity and history.
State Farm
While we can’t speak to specifics, I can share we continue to actively communicate with our customer on the claim underwriting decisions are never made lightly. We look at each customer’s unique circumstances on a case-by-case basis. State Farm considers factors such as the location of the property relative to natural hazards, condition of the property, and the customer’s past claim activity and history.”
State Farm said they will still work with clients on claims even after they are dropped.
