An adjuster was presented with a water-damage claim involving what was described as an antique 10-by-13-foot Heriz Rug valued at $25,000. The water damage caused the colors to run, rendering the Persian rug a total loss, according to the insured's claim.

The owner provided the adjuster with the provenance of having inherited this early-20th-century rug from a family member. The owner also provided documentation of having spent several thousand dollars restoring the rug to what was described as “pristine” condition.

Initial online research supported the $25,000 claim. Nonetheless, the adjuster had some reservations about whether or not the rug was a total loss and called in a contents-claims specialist to consult on the case.

The THREADBARE TIP-OFF

The first clue for the specialist that the value of the rug was drastically inflated was the determination that the prior restoration involved “reweaving and recoloring.” Reweaving meant the rug had structural deficiencies that had to be addressed. The recoloring was a huge tip-off to the contents expert as to the less-than-pristine condition of the rug.

Persian rugs are handmade. The foundations are made of warp threads which run the full length of the rug, and the fringes are actually the exposed ends of these foundation threads. The woven threads are the foundation threads that run the width of the rug.

When a rug is said to be “threadbare,” it means wear and tear has worn down the colored wool pile, starting to expose the white foundation threads. Some people paint the area with dyes, coloring the white foundation threads to match the pile colors in an attempt to mask the rug's extremely worn condition. The contents specialists in this case recognized that the rug in question had lost its pristine condition long ago.

The Result

Contents experts secured images that confirmed the wear-and-tear, and that painting had been used to improve the appearance but not the actual condition of the rug. The images also revealed less-than-expert-quality reweaving and evidence that reinforcing had been glued to the back of the rug to stabilize a failing foundation. As a result, they determined that pre-existing conditions dictated that $7,500 would be the proper valuation for this rug rather than the total loss of $25,000 claimed.

Experts also determined that the rug was not a total loss. Since the rug had been painted once already, simply bleaching the area with runs and recoloring would restore it to its pre-loss condition. In the end, $2,000 covered restoration costs with no diminution of value to the insured's Persian rug.

Special Reports /

Contents Claims Solved: The Case of the Persian Rug

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