When a house is damaged by flooding and/or water which leaks into the structure, the property owner may encounter some problems in making an insurance claim for the cost of repairing the damaged property. It is important for you to remember that all homeowner’s insurance policies are not identical. Therefore, it is important for you to review the terms and conditions of your insurance policy so that you will know what your homeowner’s policy covers and what is not covered. An insured can usually check with his insurance agent or a representative from his insurance company to find out exactly what is or is not covered by the insurance policy.
The following is a list of some of the more frequent questions which are raised when a homeowner encounters flooding and/or water damages to a home:
Coverage Issue 1
Water damage because a water pipe inside the house freezes because the temperature falls below zero and the water pipe burst, allowing water to leak inside the house. Normally this type of water damage is covered by the homeowner’s insurance policy. However, some policies will not cover this type of loss if house was left unoccupied and without heat, because the insured failed to perform the necessary upkeep that would have prevented this water damage.
Coverage Issue 2
Water leaks from your backyard swimming pool, damaging your lawn and flooding your basement. Under most policies, the water damage to your basement and the personal property inside the basement would be covered under your policy. However, the damage to your lawn would not be covered because most insurance policies exclude coverage for damage to land, including the lawn on which the house is located. Furthermore, some policies do cover certain “named perils” such as fire, explosion, vandalism and vehicles not owned by the insured, so if your lawn was damaged by one of the “named perils”, then there would be coverage for the loss. Swimming pools are not usually listed as a “named peril.” However, if a tree falls on the swimming pool and causes the water to leak from the pool, then there would probably be coverage under the insurance policy.
Coverage Issue 3
Your washing machine overflows, flooding part of the house. The key issue of coverage would be whether the overflowing of water was caused by your failure to properly maintain the washing machine or did sudden accidental damage cause the water overflow. Whenever there is damage to the home caused by the homeowner’s failure to properly maintain the property, then this can be excluded from coverage.
Coverage Issue 4
A sewer backs up, causing water to flood the basement of your house. Most insurance policies do not provide coverage for sewer backups. However, it usually is possible to add sewer back up coverage to your policy, which will increase the amount of premium you pay for your homeowner’s insurance.
Coverage Issue 5
Water seeps into your basement, causing damage. Seepage is considered a maintenance problem, and is normally excluded from homeowner’s insurance.
Coverage Issue 6
During a heavy rainstorm, water leaks through your roof causing damage to your roof and to your furniture inside the home. Most policies will not reimburse you for the roof repairs which are necessary because this will be viewed as a house maintenance issue. However, the interior water damages will normally be covered, as will any damage to your furniture. If a neighbor’s tree falls on your roof, the damage to your roof and your interior damages will normally all be covered by the homeowner’s policy.
Coverage Issue 7
If your house is damaged by a flash flood from the overflowing of a nearby river or lake, this type of damage will typically not be covered by the homeowner’s policy. Flood damage is not covered by homeowner’s insurance. But if your house is in a location where flooding is a concern, you can always buy flood insurance to protect against that type of damage.
In summary, it is important for you to know what your policy covers and what it does not cover, and to understand that lack of maintenance can cause to loss to be excluded from coverage. For more information contact Max Factor.