Ordinance or Law Declarations clause denied

Ordinance or Law Declarations clause denied

Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 28 posts · 2 votes

My rental property burned down. I received the claim check.  I want to demolish the property and rebuild later using the money in the below clause from my insurance declarations. The City has sent me letters saying that property is condemned and I need to take action to be in compliance. Is there anyway to request this money from the insurance company without them pushing back?

Ordinance or Law.

"We will pay for damage to Coverage A — Dwelling or Coverage B — Other Structures resulting from a covered cause of loss in compliance with any ordinance or law that regulates the construction, repair or demolition of the property.

This coverage does not apply unless you choose to repair or rebuild the property at its present location.

We do not cover:
a. the loss in value to any covered building or other structure due to the requirements of any ordinance or law;
b. the costs to comply with any ordinance or law which requires any insured or others to test for, monitor, cleanup, remove, contain, treat, detoxify or neutralize, or in any way respond to, or assess the effects of, pollutants or contaminants on any covered building or other structure.

You may use all or part of this ordinance or law coverage to pay for the increased costs you incur to remove debris resulting from the construction, demolition, remodeling, renovation, repair or replacement of property as stated above.

The limit of liability shown in the Declarations is the most we will pay for the total of all loss or costs for Coverage A — Dwelling or Coverage B — Other Structures, regardless of the number of locations or number of claims made. This coverage is additional insurance."

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  • Owen RosenBusiness Member
    Professional · Clinton Township, MI · Member since 2015 · 682 posts · 259 votes
    3mo

    Ashley-

    It's hard to understand what's going on here based on your description.

    Ordinance or law coverage is for increased cost of construction to bring the property up to code primarily.

    Insurance is designed to put you back into a pre-loss condition. If building codes have changed and it will cost more money to rebuild, ordinance or law coverage fills in those gaps.

    It doesn't sound like your situation applies but if you are rebuilding you might find that you can collect ordinance or law for expenses incurred as part of that process.

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    • Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2017 · 28 posts · 2 votes
      3mo
      Quote from @Owen Rosen:

      Ashley-

      It's hard to understand what's going on here based on your description.

      Ordinance or law coverage is for increased cost of construction to bring the property up to code primarily.

      Insurance is designed to put you back into a pre-loss condition. If building codes have changed and it will cost more money to rebuild, ordinance or law coverage fills in those gaps.

      It doesn't sound like your situation applies but if you are rebuilding you might find that you can collect ordinance or law for expenses incurred as part of that process.

      Hi Owen, thanks for the response. Let me clarify, I want to get the house rebuilt at some point, just not right away. The city said the house is condemned and I need to  rectify everything to be in compliance.  I’m leaning towards a demolition. The insurance company is saying that I can use the funds from the claim check to demolish the house, but the house contains asbestos which will also be additional costs for the demolition. I was wondering if I could tap into that bucket for hazardous removal for that portion since I plan to rebuild just not right away. It would be covered if I planned to rebuild right away. 
    • Owen RosenBusiness Member
      Professional · Clinton Township, MI · Member since 2015 · 682 posts · 259 votes
      3mo
      Quote from @Ashley Hughes:
      Quote from @Owen Rosen:

      Ashley-

      It's hard to understand what's going on here based on your description.

      Ordinance or law coverage is for increased cost of construction to bring the property up to code primarily.

      Insurance is designed to put you back into a pre-loss condition. If building codes have changed and it will cost more money to rebuild, ordinance or law coverage fills in those gaps.

      It doesn't sound like your situation applies but if you are rebuilding you might find that you can collect ordinance or law for expenses incurred as part of that process.

      Hi Owen, thanks for the response. Let me clarify, I want to get the house rebuilt at some point, just not right away. The city said the house is condemned and I need to  rectify everything to be in compliance.  I’m leaning towards a demolition. The insurance company is saying that I can use the funds from the claim check to demolish the house, but the house contains asbestos which will also be additional costs for the demolition. I was wondering if I could tap into that bucket for hazardous removal for that portion since I plan to rebuild just not right away. It would be covered if I planned to rebuild right away. 

      Based on 

      (b. the costs to comply with any ordinance or law which requires any insured or others to test for, monitor, cleanup, remove, contain, treat, detoxify or neutralize, or in any way respond to, or assess the effects of, pollutants or contaminants on any covered building or other structure.)

      The answer is likely no.

      Have you asked your agent?

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