Types of Water Damage that House Insurance Covers

Water damage house insurance will cover certain things and disallow others. As a homeowner, it is important to understand how homeowners insurance works and what your policy covers. Here are a few types of water damage that house insurance usually covers.

Frozen Pipes

During the winter, frozen pipes are a serious problem for many homeowners. When a pipe freezes and bursts, water could potentially go throughout your home and cause a lot of damage. Homeowners insurance should cover this occurrence. They will pay to have the water damage cleaned up, repair the pipes, and replace the damaged flooring.

Overflow

Sometimes, a homeowner will make a mistake and cause something to over flow. For example, you might accidentally leave the sink running in order to do dishes. You walk away for a few minutes and forget the sink was running. Water could overflow the sink and potentially damage your floor. If you have laminate flooring, this could potentially require you to replace the flooring. Most of the time, house insurance will cover this damage for you. However, if this becomes a frequent occurrence, they may start to disallow it.

Sewer Water

Many homes experience damage as a result of sewer water getting into the house. You might have a sewer line clogged up and not know it. When this happens, sewer water can come back out through the lines and flood your house. This can be a very messy and expensive situation to clean up. However, your insurance company should cover this damage for you. One notable exception to this rule is if a tree root grows through a pipe outside of the house. This has been known to cause a claim to be denied in some cases.

Appliance Water Lines

Another problem that many homeowners experience is when a water line behind an appliance breaks. For example, the water line to the ice maker in your refrigerator or to the washing machine might break. Refrigerator water lines are notorious for developing very tiny holes that can allow large amounts of water to leak onto the floor. When this happens, you should be able to get your insurance to pay for the damage.

Storm Damage

If a bad storm comes through, it could potentially damage your roof. When this happens, a hole in the roof could be caused which would allow water to come through. When rain comes through the roof, it can cause significant damage to your home. It will most likely damage the ceiling and it could drip down inside of the walls as well. Once it reaches the floor, it will also damage the flooring in most cases. This is another situation that would be covered by most homeowners insurance policies.

Spills

Homeowners have also been known to cause large spills in their homes. For example, if you spill a fish tank or large bucket of water on your flooring, it could potentially damage it. The insurance company will cover accidents like this in most cases.