IO - A Messy Way to Come Home

[Numb1075]

BETHPAGE, N.Y. (AP) -- Oil's not well at the Tesoriero home.

A driver for a Long Island company mistakenly pumped at least 50 gallons of heating oil into the family's Bethpage home through a long-idle filler pipe after misreading the address on a bill, said Juliann and Edward Tesoriero, who were forced from their home by the error.

The oil flooded their basement and rendered the house uninhabitable for at least a month due to the fumes, the couple said. Everything in the basement - including carpeting, furniture and pictures - was ruined.

The couple was out running errands on Tuesday morning. They returned home to find the unwanted delivery.

"When we came home, we smelled it," said Juliann Tesoriero. "There was liquid on the floor of the basement and we said, 'Oh my God, it's oil.'"

Neighbors confirmed their assessment, telling the Tesorieros that a truck from the Benit Fuel Oil company of Smithtown had just made the delivery. The oil was intended for another house on their suburban Long Island street.

Benit General Manager Dennis Barlow said the driver pumped 50 gallons of oil through the pipe before realizing the mistake less than a minute into the delivery. The Tesorieros estimated it was 150 gallons.

"We are doing everything we can for the people," Barlow said. "We hired a company to restore the house."

The homeowners said they had switched from oil to natural gas about 35 years ago, although the pipe on their property remained intact.

"You can't even breathe in there," said Edward Tesoriero, adding that they would be staying at a hotel until they could return home.

 

[BluRmGrl]

Dear God - what a horrible mess! It's like their own personal Exxon Valdez spill.

 

[Numb1075]

i once had a flood of over 4 feet in my basement and lost everything (insurance did nothing) so I know the devestation water can do....but oil? That's a real mess.

 

[BluRmGrl]

Numb, not to make any accusations, but were you carrying a valid flood policy on the property at the time of the damage? If not, there wouldn't be any coverage for flood damage - homeowner's policies and fire/dwelling policies don't protect against flood, which is generally described as "rising ground water".

Unfortunately, not many agents make this apparent to their clients when writing/selling a policy. Lots of folks (like yourself) find out only when it's too late & they're ruined financially.
Sorry for your bad experience.

 

[Numb1075]

it was "an act of god".....i was told by my insurance that i'd be covered if a pipe burst or something in the house.

we had an insane amount of rain in a short period of time, the nearby culvert backed up and a raging river headed straight to my property, broke open my aluminum basement door and as they say "the rest was history"

 

[BluRmGrl]

Explaining the exclusion as "an act of God" is a cop-out. Lightning striking your home is also an act of God, but that's covered. Hurricanes/tornados are acts of God, but they're covered.

The better explanation - the REAL explanation - of why your damaged wasn't covered is exactly what I was talking about in the initial post. Even though the heavy rain was an isolated incident (not something you'd expect to happen regularly or ever, for that matter) the backed up culvert caused the ground water to rise and homeowner's policies don't cover that type of water damage.

Even though you can't every possible situation that might not be covered by a policy, I always tried to make sure & point that huge omission out to people whenever I wrote them a policy. It's a real shame more agents don't do the same.

And it can't be considered an "Errors and Omissions" claim against the agency either because the policy (if you'll only read it ) clearly excludes flood damages.

 

[Carek1230]

Sometimes I don't understand insurance. It seems like such a crapshoot whether if anything happens you will be covered or not. And then if your claim is covered you stand the chance of your policy being cancelled or your rates being hijacked.

 

[BluRmGrl]

You're not alone, carek - LOTS of people have no idea what they are or aren't covered for. And like I tried to say in my horribly written last post , as an agent there's no way you can possibly address every situation that won't be covered by the policy. But there's also the insured's responsibility to READ THE POLICY - I know it's boring & confusing, but that's why you find an agent who will take the time to answer your questions.

So many people just expect the agent to do what's best for them because they (the insureds) don't want to bother with it.

 

[UberBeaver]

it was "an act of god".....i was told by my insurance that i'd be covered if a pipe burst or something in the house.

Tell them you're an atheist, but if you did believe in God, your God would not flood people's basements.

 

[Numb1075]

the g0d i believe in isn't short of cash, mister !

 

[BluRmGrl]

^ Probably not the best comment for the guy holding the checkbook, though.

 

[UberBeaver]

OK, then try the "I believe my God performs miracles, and he is miraculously giuding your hand to write me a goddamn check to fix my house."

 

[BluRmGrl]

Better... scarier, but better.