Water Damages 7600 sq ft Home

Michael Tuite: Let the professionals do it.

Interviewer: In mid-February, a pipe exploded in a second floor bathroom of the 7600 square foot home of Michael Tuite, a Silicon Valley executive...

Michael Tuite: Let the professionals do it.

Interviewer: In mid-February, a pipe exploded in a second floor bathroom of the 7600 square foot home of Michael Tuite, a Silicon Valley executive.

Michael Tuite: …and I bought this home in 1998. Moved here, did quite a bit of remodeling to it – mostly internally.

Interviewer: The water ran for 3 days causing significant damage throughout the home, including its gym and wine cellar.

Michael Tuite: Immediately, what you do is you find the source and you contain that, so that’s what I did. And, for about an hour and a half, I actually pretty much surveyed the damage. The whole ceiling fell in, all of my furniture was damaged – I mean, it was really a sight. My shock lasted maybe an hour, an hour and a half, and then you get your head together.

Long story short, I called a friend of mine who is a very well-known trial attorney in San Jose and I said, “What do you think about this? Do you know any attorneys that can handle this?” And he said, “I just went through a million dollar loss. I handled it myself. I’m an attorney. I wouldn’t do it again. Who I would call is Greenspan.”

So I said to my dear friend, “Who is Greenspan? Never heard of them!” And he said that they’re “insurance adjusters that deal with the claim. They come in and take the claim over.”

So it turned out that Gordon came down, and a gentleman by the name of Gary Johnson came down, surveyed this and they said, “this claim is far larger than you think.”

The first offer was around $150,000.

Interviewer: $150,000? How much, if you don’t mind me asking, how much did Greenspan turn over for you?

Michael Tuite: This claim, in the end, was over $3 million. The bottom line is it was the best thing I ever did.