A California dentist experienced significant water damage to her practice when an apartment unit above her office had a water leak. She details her experience working with TDIC and the effects the experience had on her business.
It was a situation no dentist would want to walk into on a Monday morning: water damage. And lots of it.
The Dentists Insurance Company received a phone call last October from a California policyholder moments after she walked into a significant amount of water damage in her practice. The dentist found water and dust in the lab, reception area, office area and staff room—indicative of leaking and then drying in those areas. She also noticed that a cabinet had been so badly damaged by the water that it had fallen off the wall. Upon entering the lab for further inspection, she noticed water marks on the ceiling tiles, indicating that water somewhere above the area had leaked through into her practice.
The incident: A water leak from above
When recounting the story, the dentist shared that she immediately felt panic, anticipating the worst-case scenario in terms of damage and what it would mean for her practice operations.
Her San Francisco office was a mere two and a half years old, and she had designed the space from the ground up, including construction, plumbing and electrical. Her team is small—only three employees—but her office sees roughly 15-20 patients every day, and gains about 30-40 new patients every month. The dentist was worried about the impact this unexpected damage would have on her new, growing business.
The dentist learned from the building’s maintenance office that the leak had first been detected on Sunday morning, stemming from a residential apartment unit with a faulty shower located directly above the practice. Unfortunately, the building’s management failed to inform her of the issue before it was too late.
The response: Adjuster and recovery team arrive on-site quickly
After assessing the situation, the dentist called TDIC, her commercial property insurance carrier, to ask for help. Within 90 minutes, a claims adjuster was on-site.
“I didn’t even know what questions to ask the claims adjuster. I didn't know what I needed to know, I didn't know what the process looked like, and I didn't know how disastrously this was going to affect my business. And he came in and sat down with me and said, ‘Here is what we see, and this is how the process goes. Here’s what we’re going to do on our end and what we’re going to take care of for you.”
Just ten minutes after the adjuster reached the office, the recovery team arrived. The dentist said that the team immediately got to work, putting large dryers around the space to mitigate further damage. Since the walls had soaked up much of the water, time was of the essence to prevent mold from forming—potentially the most serious concern among all the damage.
The recovery: A coordinated effort to expedite repair
The recovery team worked with the dentist to coordinate which days to shut down the practice, working around her schedule and holiday closures to minimize financial losses and ensure she could still see some patients. Her practice was closed on Thursday and Friday following Monday’s incident. The recovery team worked through the weekend to cut out the walls, move out all the damaged items to be inventoried and bring in temporary fixtures so that the practice could resume seeing patients the following Monday. Over the next few months, TDIC worked with the dentist to arrange several other days that her practice could be closed for repair work—typically a handful of consecutive days at most. Over the holidays in December, the dentist was able to close the office for a longer period to allow the recovery team to fix the floors—the heftiest repair.
The dentist said that throughout the entire repair process, TDIC was highly proactive and transparent. Her commercial property policy through TDIC covered all the repair costs, the replacement of lost supplies, the loss of income from the days that the practice had to be closed and payroll for additional time that she had to bring her employees into the office outside of normal work hours.
TDIC also sent her summaries of what was paid out and what was being claimed so that she could keep a record. She received reimbursement checks for supplies very quickly. By December, most of the water damage was fully repaired, and the dentist’s office was back to business as usual. There were some minor touch-ups needed in January, but those did not affect operations. When reflecting on the experience, the dentist emphasized that while the incident was scary and stressful, it would have been significantly more overwhelming without support.
“TDIC took such an incredible weight off our shoulders. I was anticipating it really causing a significant mental burden on me with everything else I needed to do. The adjuster walked me through the process and answered questions I didn't even know I had, and, by the time he left, a weight had been lifted. I told myself, ‘Okay, there's a plan. I know how we’re going to proceed, and I know who my point people are.’ What that did to help me keep business going as close to normal as possible—the value of that cannot be overstated.”
Compare your current coverage to see if your property insurance is designed to support the needs of your dental practice. Learn more at tdicinsurance.com/Property.