We live in a single story concrete slab home. We have bamboo flooring glued directly to the slab. We suffered a water leak which damaged a kitchen cabinet and ruined the bamboo flooring in our kitchen, breakfast nook and the adjoining family room. The flooring extends throughout the entire 2600SF home with the exception of 2 bathrooms.

The insurance adjuster has viewed the damage, we have also provided the insurance company with multiple estimates for repairs. A check has been issued to replace the entire floor in our home, replacement of the base cabinet as well as refacing all of the kitchen cabinets as they can’t be matched.

The check was made payable to us and our mortgage holder which happens to be the credit union where we do our banking. The check has been deposited into our checking account. The credit union has stated the funds will be “on hold” and released to us as invoices are produced. My wife has been negotiating with the contractors and as unlikely as it seems, there may be a cash surplus. The obvious question is, what happens to the excess?

I am pretty certain that is yours. Believe me you will earn every penny submitting invoices and waiting for payments. Once the work is completed there may not be any surplus. "Cost overruns, hidden damage, unforseen issues, increased cost of materials etc."

An added thought from experience. Do not let the contractors know the amount of the disbursement.

Any surplus will be dispersed to you, provided that the creditor is satisfied that all of the work is completed, meaning the house is returned to its pre-damaged condition.

I'm going through this right now. My lender just signed the whole check over immediately since the damage was about 10K, and there is way more equity than that in the property.

Careful. Our home owners dropped us after I turned in a couple thousand dollar claim when the ice maker water line broke. We had water everywhere.