Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bill Nichthauser on July 25, 2013 at 11:24am

I'm so sorry about that, Jes.  It stinks, to make an understatement.  I've experienced a break-in, and it throws you for a loop.  If I hear anything, I'll certainly let you know.  i assume the police were contacted.

                                                                     Bill Nichthauser

                                                                      inky389@frontiernet.net

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Permalink Reply by Jes Karakashian on July 25, 2013 at 1:18pm

Oh yes. We had a report taken and everything. Taking a big fat loss on this one, no thanks to the thief OR the insurance company. I hope no one else has to learn the hard way.

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Permalink Reply by Marian Boutet on July 25, 2013 at 12:52pm

I'm so sorry this happened to you.  Thank you for warning us.

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Permalink Reply by Jes Karakashian on July 25, 2013 at 1:18pm

Thank you, Marian. Spread the word. I'd hate to see anyone else go through this.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Sweetland on July 25, 2013 at 7:09pm

Jes, Sorry for your misfortune.  I am curious, and maybe we can all learn something --- why did insurance not cover this?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Karakashian on July 29, 2013 at 3:16pm

They have a clause that if the house is vacant more than 30 days, they don't cover anything.  They didn't tell us this when we informed them the house was vacant, of course.   This is true of almost every insurance company (the variations being some give you 60 days.)  According to Nationwide, it's not a matter of IF this is going to happen, but WHEN.  So, they knew it was going to happen and purposefully withheld that information.  But, that's water under the bridge...

Some recommendations we found on the Internet, though: spray paint all of your copper tubing with bright, lime-green.  The thieves will often simply pass because the copper is now "marked" and they won't take the time to clear it off. 

They primarily target houses with "for sale" signs out front, and one recommendation was to put up a sign on that sign that says something like "Do not disturb occupant."  "Tenant cannot help with house questions".  That gives some impression that someone lives there.  They'll still watch the house to make sure, though, so if you've got a neighbor willing to park their car in your driveway to make it look convincing, that might help, too.

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Permalink Reply by Marian Boutet on July 29, 2013 at 4:13pm

This is valuable information and I thank you for sharing it.  Maybe it will help someone else avoid the disaster that happened to you.

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Permalink Reply by Jes Karakashian on July 29, 2013 at 4:15pm

I would not want this to happen to anyone else. I'm so angry with our insurance agent for neglecting to give us this info in order to avoid this whole situation. Nationwide is NOT ON YOUR SIDE. LOL

 

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