Curtis's complaint:
March 14, 2014

Insurance Company: Erie Insurance Group
Coverage Type: Homeowners Insurance

• Claim Handling - Fraud
• Claim Handling - Denial of Claim

I am Power of Attorney for my aunt. My aunt, who is raising a grand-child while living on Social Security experienced cracking grout in her bathroom tile floor. She called a tile mason and his opinion was that an improper grout mix may have been used. The plan was to remove and replace all of the grout. Upon making the repair, it was discovered the sub-floor was wet and the flex of the floor was causing the cracks. This discovery occurred on a Saturday and my aunt called her agent immediately to inform him of the problem.

To get to the root of the problem the entire bath had to be gutted. There was an apparent crack in tile beneath a "senior seat" which was allowing water to run behind the wall and make contact with the particle board sub-floor.

The policy states that Erie won't cover leaks from a "plumbing system" which occur over prolonged periods of time. The spirit of the clause if read entirely is,...if you know you have a leak and you don't fix it, then damages caused by leaking over time aren't our responsibility. My aunt had an acute discovery of what was later ruled a prolonged problem. Additionally, the policy talks about "plumbing systems" and no definition of plumbing system includes a custom tiled wall with no pipes or fixtures located in that wall.

Standard procedure for such a claim involves a visit from an "engineer" who isn't employed by, however is paid by Erie. I met with the Engineer and he was very complimentary of the work which had been completed when the bathroom was remodeled. He visited for at least 30 minutes and took several photos. He and I discussed and in fact agreed upon the likely culprit which had nothing to do with the flooring underlayment.

After running out of excuses for not covering the claim, I get a letter which includes the "Engineer's Report". It's two pages of exactly what was discussed with one little sentence tacked on the end about "possible improper installation of underlayment." It's so obvious he wrote the report per their demands, however I will never be able to prove that.

I'm a professional fire chief by trade. I work with homeowners and insurance companies often. Erie's handling of this claim is laughable. Of course insurance companies have to make money to stay in business, however their recipe for profit shouldn't include deceit.

I DO NOT recommend the Erie Insurance Group.

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