Seeking Advice on Homeowners Claim Issues

Apologies in advance, this will be long.

I filed an insurance claim 35 days ago for a hidden plumbing leak in my kitchen that migrated between my tile floor and subfloor (pier and beam construction) and wasn’t detected until it wicked up one of my cabinets. Once detected, I quickly capped the leak, pulled out some base cabinets and plaster to begin the drying process, then contacted the insurance company.

They sent out a field adjuster about 5 days after the claim, and he said he noticed what could be mold in the wall cavity. I told him I had closed cell foam under the house, so nothing was drying and we needed to get moving. The insurance company then sent out a mold remediation company to do an assessment, and then over a week after that, told me they were sending out a mold inspector to gather more data. The inspection report showed no airborne mold, and only trace levels of mold in any of the test areas, yet suggested demolition and remediation of affected area by a licensed mold remediation company.

Finally, 29 days after I filed the claim, the remediation company that came out prior then sends estimates for demo and remediation, the latter of which is like $7,000 more than my mold limitation. Knowing the area affected is relatively small, (300-400 square feet), I get the adjuster to send the full estimate and see these scammers are basically saying the scope of work is way larger than it really is. I tell this to the adjuster and he sends out another remediation company.

This company says the inspection company did not provide a protocol, which lays out the scope of work and that is highly irregular. They also note that based on the report, there isn’t really any active mold found and don’t see why it calls for a remediation company to do the work. I relay this to my adjuster and he schedules yet another remediation company that comes out and tells me the same thing. So, Friday, the adjuster finally agrees that a protocol is necessary and that he is going to schedule another inspection by a different company, but it won’t be until late this week. I tell him for the second or third time that I’m concerned that a real mold problem is going to fester with all the time being wasted.

I get home today— 35 days after the claim— after being gone a couple of days, and see there are a few f%#*!ing mushrooms growing up out of the subfloor where I pulled the base cabinets. So, now I’m really concerned that the next inspection is going to come back with airborne mold present, the remediation costs are going to be ridiculous, and I’m going to get left holding the bag.

So, IF it ends up that I now have a larger issue, my question is this: do I have a valid argument that their inactivity has exacerbated the problem, and thus my mold limitation should not apply?