Picture this. You’ve gone on a dreamy holiday, to relieve the stress of your everyday grind. You arrive back home refreshed and recharged, only to discover that you’ve experienced a water leak while you were away and that your Villa Rica home and belongings have sustained significant water damage.
And then you have to go through the process of getting the damage repair and replacement covered by your insurance company, only to realize that your coverage doesn’t apply. Talk about bringing the stress back! Here are some considerations around common water leak issues that homeowners turn to their insurance to cover.
Leak Detection
You may assume that your homeowner's insurance covers all water leaks equally. Not true.
If it is determined that you might have had prior knowledge about your water leaks, or if you were negligent in taking care of them, your claim might be denied.
One way to be proactive in this department is to undergo leak detection to get to the root of the problem before it has a chance to develop. If you suspect a leak, order leak detection from a trusted plumber today and protect yourself.
Broken Water Pipe
For the most part, your homeowner’s insurance will cover damage sustained from a broken water pipe.
Again, if it is discovered that you have been negligent in maintaining your plumbing or have contributed to creating an environment that would make a broken water pipe more likely, your claim may be denied.
For example, if you went away and turned your heat off, causing your pipes to freeze and burst, you may find your claim denied. To avoid this, turn the heat down, but not off entirely.
Water Damage
It doesn’t take much of a water leak to produce a lot of costly water damage. While coverage varies from policy to policy, typically water damage is covered if it is deemed accidental and sudden (i.e. the drywall gets soaked when a pipe bursts).
Let’s say your bathroom floor rots because of water damage from a leaky toilet that you didn’t fix. That might be hard to claim. Stay on top of plumbing leaks before they cause damage.
Homeowner Insurance
The key is to understand fully what your homeowner insurance covers and doesn’t cover in terms of water damage and water leaks.
You should be informed about any limitations and deductibles ahead of time so that you can proactively manage your plumbing.
Do you have a story to share about your experiences with water damage and your insurance company? We’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment in the comment section. To learn about how you can stop water damage in your home, get in touch with our experts today.