Hi orangecat, I am sorry that you've lost your loved one. That really hurts. And - how much more stressful it is when there are a bunch of money problems to deal with all at the same time. As for the (modest) insurance policy. Who is the named beneficiary of the policy? In almost all cases that person gets the proceeds of the insurance. If the designated beneficiary has died, quite likely the proceeds of the insurance will go to pay outstanding bills of that person's estate, or to one or other of his/her beneficiaries. It's important to find out whether the person dying has made arrangements for the funeral. Has s/he planned to donate organs to persons needing them? Or his/her body to a medical school? If arrangements haven't been made, it's the responsibility of the executor named in the will to make those arrangements and see to their implementation. Almost certainly the funeral home will want assurance of how they are to be paid before they'll agree to officiate. Do you have a Memorial Society in your area (look in the Yellow Pages, likely under Funeral Directors/Homes)? Or ask a local church, especially one (or a few) in a low-income area. They offer modest funeral services at a much reduced price. If the beneficiary of the insurance policy is a good-hearted person, perhaps s/he will allow at least part of the benefit to be used to pay for part of the funeral. If so, does that person or the deceased have a fairly strong connection with a religious congregation? If so, perhaps the congregation's ruling body would be willing to pass a contributon through to the funeral home. If so, when the beneficiary of the deceased's insurance makes the contribution to the church, s/he'll get a receipt, which in most jurisdictions is mostly tax-deductible. The congregation would agree to pass that money on to the funeral director concerned. That would mean that the donation would be tax-deductible rather than just a gift with no compensating material benefit to the donor. If you can't afford a funeral, most municipal governments can make arrangements to provide one. Does the deceased person have a will? One of the major provisions is to name an executor, whose responsibility it will be to collect whatever assets there may be, pay whatever bills s/he can, including income tax, of course, and if there are assets left, to distribute them according to the provisions of the will. The latter not a big problem in your situation, as you say. Most of us need one, but if there are no assets it isn't so necessary. Is there likely to be argument over the person's furniture, car, personal assets? If the person is still alive, it's important the s/he make a will. If there isn't one, dealing with the estate is delayed, gets quite complicated - and expensive, if there are assets. It would be helpful if they can let several persons (to forestall arguments later) close to him/her know whom s/he'd like to have which of her/his possessions - if it wouldn't be too traumatic to raise such a subject now/soon. Make a list - and have several persons have a copy (or know about the specific provisions, at least), if you anticipate having arguments. WHile these suggestions are generally true in many jurisdictions, I'd suggest that you check some people locally who are knowlesgeable in this area. Often religious congregations' leaders have some experience in it. My good wishes go out to you and your family through this trying time. ole joyful

"1) The gas company won't take responsibility for any gas issues within the house - is this true?" You won the lines after the meter. "2) If the leak is indeed over an unclosed ceiling - can the pipe be replaced without tearing down the middle room's ceiling?" Depends on details not present here. "3) One plumber is charging $1600 but requires permitting & no replacement of ceiling. Another is quoting $2100 with no permits & no ceiling cutting. Appropriate for the work or reasonable?" Call your AHJ. Some places may consider it enough of a repair to not require a permit, many others will not. "4) Is this where insurance is worth a call? Insurance does not usually cover maintenance.

The other weakness of many title insurance policies is the payoff is limited to the value when the policy was issued. You purchase a house for $200,000. The lender policy covers the mortgage of $160,000. The owners policy covers the remaining $40,000. Ten years later the property is worth $300,000. A title problem arises. The title insurance company is on the hook for the the mortgage balance after 10 years, and the additional $40,000 owners policy. Add to that legal costs of defending the title, and they may just pay off. You get $40,000, the lender gets the mortgage balance, and you no longer own anything. Tough luck about the increase in value. Here is your $40,000. Go find another house. There are title policies that increase the payoff, but like everything else they cost more for the additional risk.

Why pay for insurance if you don't intend to use it? If you have never had a claim before, I doubt you would see an increased premium. People who have premium increases are typically people who are filing repeat claims every couple of years. Even if you do have a premium increase, it would be far less than what it will cost to repair this damage. I don't think you are capable of assessing hidden damage. If it were me I would have been on the phone with my insurance company about 5 minutes after this happened. The only problem I can think of is if you don't call the insurance company, end up with a mold problem, and then try to get the insurance company to pay for a remediation that wouldn't have been necessary if you had involved them from the start. This post was edited by kudzu9 on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 17:55