Will My Homeowner's Insurance Cover Water Damage?

Every year, a great number of home insurance claims related to water damage are rejected. If you are having trouble understanding to what extent your insurance covers water damage, this is a good guideline: most of the time the damage caused to the home by the actual water is insured by most policies. However, repairing the thing that caused the water damage in the first place may not be covered by your insurance. Here are six things to remember when dealing with homeowner's insurance and water damage:

Is Water Damage Covered By My Homeowners Insurance

Is Water Damage Covered By My Homeowners Insurance

1. Most insurers will cover you if you water pipes rupture because of the cold weather, resulting in your whole house being covered with water. However, many insurance claims related to frozen pipes are rejected each year. This is because insurance companies require you to drain and cover the pipes if you will be leaving the house, and ensuring that their temperature stays above ten degrees below zero. Failure to do so gives the insurance company grounds to deny your claim, since you would be at fault for the water damage.

2. If an appliance fails, like a dishwasher or washing machine, and causes water damage to your property, things can get tricky. The insurance will cover the damage caused by the water; however, they will probably not cover repairs for the appliance that caused the flooding. The insurance company may deny your claim if they can prove that the device that caused the flood was not properly maintained.

3. Damage to your home resulting from water seepage is usually not covered. Homeowner's insurance is meant to protect people from sudden accidents. Water damage resulting from seeping groundwater is considered a maintenance problem.

4. Likewise, if water enters your home from a rainstorm, most insurers would probably not pay for your roof repairs, as this is considered a maintenance problem. However, your insurance would cover any water damage from the water that entered your home. To better illustrate this point, if the damage to your roof was not caused by the rain but by an extraordinary circumstance (such as a falling tree or a meteor,) then your homeowner's insurance would cover roof repair as well.

5. Most homeowner's insurance policies will not cover flooding from backed up sewers. In fact, many policies specifically exclude it. If you feel you may need this kind of coverage, many insurers offer it with an additional cost.

6. Remember, homeowner's insurance will not cover water damage from a flash flood, or from a flood from overflowing river banks. For these cases you would need flood insurance, which is a different thing altogether.

To learn more about Louisville home insurance, ask the agents at Claude Reynolds Insurance! They will make sure you have the right homeowners insurance policy for your situation.

By Matt Reynolds - Google+

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