Yes, i don’t know if it’s insurable, or if you’ll have enough damage to want to file a claim, but I’m certain no reputable company will deny a claim because you didn’t violate the law.
If you think you’ll want to file a claim, you might want to report it now, though. That shows that you aren’t negligent, and also, if it’s a good insurance company, they may be able to recommend a suitable removal company. They’ll need to seal the hole the bats are using to enter your walls. Just annoying them with lights or something is unlikely to do the job.
Finally, your post fills me with joy. Most of the bats in New England have been wiped out in recent years by white nose syndrome.
You are likely seeing little brown bats, which were severely affected
From 2006 to 2011, over one million little brown bats died from the disease in the Northeastern United States, with winter hibernacula populations declining up to 99%.[58] As of 2017, hibernacula counts for little brown bats in the Northeast had declined by an average of 90%.[
I’ve heard that the population has begun to increase, as the more resistant individuals who survived the initial wave of the disease are breeding. But yours is the first direct active sighting that I’ve heard of. I spent many happy hours as a child watching the bats fly over lake winnipesaukee.
I would hope that the insurance companies would take this into account. Hope. But I kind of expect that they’ll try to use it as an excuse to shirk paying.
I really think you’re all overthinking this. There’s no particular reason to assume I’ll have a claim that goes above my deductible for 30ish bats in the eaves for a few weeks or months. So I’m balancing reporting a non-claim now to protect myself from the insurance company denying an unlikely future claim because both federal and state law prevented me from doing any remediation sooner, vs the very real problem of asking questions about coverage making your premiums go up.. At the least I’ll wait until I get some removal guys out.
And apart from that, I think the bats are pretty cool too. Once they’re remediated I’ll likely put up a bat house for next year to see if I can attract them back. Certainly the mosquito bites I suffered while watching them exit last night makes me want them around.
Honestly, i don’t think you’ll have a claim, either. And i would likely do exactly what you are doing. But… If you have trouble finding the right company to remove them, your insurer may be a resource. (And yes, your premium could go up.)
For background, I’m in the middle of dealing with massive flooding damage in my basement. It was obviously more than we could handle, and so far, the insurer has been very helpful. Flooding isn’t always covered, but when your still-under-warranty hot water heater bursts, and the 3-year-old alarm that’s supposed to automatically stop the water and also alert you fails, it’s covered.
So i have “insurance companies can be helpful” on the mind.
There’s a crew they are paying for in the basement now.
Ouch, sorry about the flooding. And yes, if I had an actual claimable event, I’d certainly accept any referrals or help from the insurance company. But I can’t imagine the exclusion itself is a covered service in the absence of claimable damage, and there are other resources to find someone to do the work. I did call the guy I had out before, I’m 99% certain he doesn’t do bats, but I’ll wait for a callback to see if he has someone he can refer me to. If I don’t hear back today, I’ve got a list of places to call.
It might actually be. Insurance companies prefer paying off on a cheap preventative instead of an expensive repair, and some preventative jobs are actually zero out-of-pocket, zero premium increase. Whether bat removal is one of those jobs, I don’t know, but it’s at least plausible.
If you don’t want to ask your insurance company, you might ask the bat-exterminator. If it is something that insurance covers, they’ve probably experienced that, and any contractor loves being able to say “if you do business with me, someone else will pay for it”.
I work in insurance (mostly on the software side, but I’m familiar with coverages), and I’m with you – I wouldn’t notify my insurance company at this point.
Also, I’ve never heard of a homeowner policy that would cover bat removal or any kind of pest control. It’s considered maintenance, not damage. Insurance companies might offer discounts for things like burglar alarms or leak detection devices, but they generally aren’t going to pay for services like that.
Based on what you shared, it sounds like you caught this concern very early and damage will be minimal. And yes, the scenario I described is very much the exception, not the rule. But the situation can get serious if not addressed promptly.
The folks I knew just hadn’t noticed the bats had found a spot to get in and build their home. Bats are everywhere here in Western Oregon, so seeing them flying is very common. I’ve had a couple get in the house through a briefly-opened door. So I can understand how they missed it.
I love bats, too, and I am glad to provide a tree-filled home for them. In the trees. Not in my house.
Please do keep us updated on how your situation resolves!
I’ve got 2 licensed Pest Animal Control agents scheduled next week to take a look. It’s kind of funny, I posted this thread with the hope that we’d have a resident bat expert (RIP Colibri) who could help, instead I get (appreciated) advice from two insurance experts.
Of course. Except for the Jokers at the top of the thread.
This hasn’t been my experience. When a very large maple tree developed a crack in the trunk that caused the whole tree above about 5 feet to swivel in the wind, I called my arborist (who advised me not to sleep in the house until he could get a crew there in the a.m.) and the insurance company. Insurance would have paid if the tree fell on the house, but not to have the arborist remove it.
Here’s something else to worry about (you’re welcome).
About 15 years ago when I lived out in the country, I woke up one morning very early-- 5 am-ish or so–and there was something flying around my bedroom. Turned out it was a bat. The two dogs sleeping with me never even noticed it. There was a space around the wall unit a/c where I guess it got in. Really freaked me out. When I got home from work that day it had found its way to the dining room and was attached to the wall. I used a spatula and a minnow net, scooped it up, and deposited it outside.
I came here to the SDMB to report the interesting occurrence and several people said I absolutely must go immediately to get rabies shots. Because if I was asleep in the room while it was flying around, there was no way to be sure it hadn’t bitten me. And by the time rabies symptoms show up, you’re already a dead person. So I trooped off to the ER at the local military hospital for 4-5 visits spread over several weeks to get the shots. And you do get them in your arm, not your stomach.
