Insurance agency flooded by busted pipes offers advice for water damage victims

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - After nearly 20 years working as an insurance agent, Kay Cordell knows the difficulties of material loss, and now she’s living through her own.

The owner of Cordell Insurance Agency, she entered her Old Hickory office to find it flooded on Christmas Day.

“As an insurance agent, you help people through this process, and when it happens to you, you freeze and you’re just thinking what’s the next step, what am I supposed to do, so I had to calm myself down internally,” Cordell said.

Her advice if you suffer a leak or busted pipe, immediately cut the water off and call a water mitigation team as soon as possible. In her experience this past week, Cordell said water mitigation companies are backed up by demand. After that, make a claim with your insurance company.

The Nashville Metro Water Service (MWS) also offers bill adjustments to qualifying customers who suffered leaks. To qualify for a leak adjustment, Metro Water Services requires you to provide the type of repair and date of repair. They will then review the account and issue a credit within seven days.

Metro Water Services said to email that information to MWSonline@nashville.gov or call 615-862-4600.

Cordell encourages the public to take whatever help you can get.

“If they’re willing to adjust your water bill for that, I mean our water bills are already expensive. I can’t even imaging what it would be like if your pipes had been bursting and running for that amount of time,” Cordell said.

While Cordell waits for repairs of her own, she’s moved her insurance agency to her home, taking more calls from people with pipe problems.

“(It’s) helped my put myself in my clients’ shoes to what they might be experiencing,” Cordell said. “Once we opened again, we started to receive more phone calls about the busted pipes, but yet, we didn’t have an office to work out of until we moved to my kitchen to help people with answering those calls and directing them where they need to go.”

Click for information about MWS leak adjustments.

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