We had a common household product spill. When calling the company they advised any wood in contact with the material should probably be replaced because of the chemical interacting with the wood – which would be a kitchen cabinet side and some subfloor. They asked if I wanted to submit a claim with them as their product leaked without cause – I said yes. They referred to a third party company.
What in the world should we be doing here? We don’t even know yet that the materials for sure need replacing. Do I wait and see what happens with the companies insurance? Do I let my insurance know that we *might* have a claim? It could be nothing or it could be fairly invasive and we just have no way of knowing which one this early on. There is no rush for repair per the product company – no need to dry anything out, but I’m worried our company may later deny us a large claim for not quickly reporting a spill? Then again, I hate to call them and file and claim for something that ends up being less than $500. Help!
Third party claim – so confused.
byu/MidwestEquestrian85 inInsurance
Posted by MidwestEquestrian85
2 Comments
Unless things become too complicated or their insurance company starts to jerk you around, don’t file a claim with your own insurance.
Submit to the company’s third-party you were referred to. Sounds more like a TPA (third-party administrator) than an insurance company – just a claims handling unit for the company’s self-insured “small” dollar liability claims. They have a process for whatever you’re dealing with, and given the immediacy with which you were referred by the company itself, this probably happens not infrequently.
They probably have fairly substantial settlement authority. Get a few quotes to replace the potentially damaged items/sections and submit it to them. My guess is they’ll send you a check within a few days or weeks.
And once you have those quotes, you’ll know whether there’s any possibility you’d want to get your own carrier involved should you end up getting nowhere with the TPA.