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Does Homeowners Insurance Cover All Types of Water-Related Damages?

Ryker Bingham |  May 14, 2020

Leaky Pipe
New homeowners or anyone with current water damage in their homes, may find themselves seeking answers to home insurance policies and water damage. Standard homeowners insurance policies typically cover water-related damages that do not happen due to flooding, lack of maintenance, ill-repair, or neglect.

Homeowners can expect that their water damage insurance policies will cover damages that are considered sudden and internal, i.e. water damage from fire protection, storms, plumbing issues, overflow, vandalism, a leaky roof that damages the interior of a home and a few other emergency matters. 

Water-related damages to your home can be frustrating, worrisome, and down-right annoying, but understanding the types of damages that your homeowner’s insurance policy covers is one of the most important first steps you can take when dealing with this unfortunate situation. In addition to knowing what your homeowner’s insurance covers, it is important to find and work with a water damage remediation professional. Many water damage specialists are able to handle everything from your homeowner’s insurance claim for water damage to cleaning up the mess and remediating the issues you may have within your home from the water damage itself. 

Read on to learn more about the five types of water-related damages covered by homeowners insurance companies and the damages not covered by homeowners insurance. Let’s get started!

Five Water-Related Damages Covered by Most Standard Homeowners Insurance Policies

Most insurance policies will cover damages to your homes, as long as the said damages fall under one of the common perils that affect homes. These perils cover a range of damages and those associated with water damage are as follows: burst pipes, accidental overflow of appliances, water heater ruptures, roof leaks, and destructive weather.

Burst Pipes

This may occur for several reasons. One of the primary reasons a pipe bursts tends to be from water expanding inside the pipe and the pressure gets to be too much and a rupture occurs. Freezing temperatures often cause this issue. Most standard homeowners insurance policies cover these damages, unless previously noted that pipes are shoddy during the home inspection period. Oftentimes cast iron plumbing will not be covered for water damage on an insurance policy, but most homes in the past 20 years have PVC type plumbing.

Accidental Overflow of Appliances

Accidents happen! Homeowners can rest assured that if for some reason the washing machine, dishwasher or other appliance overflows enough to create water damage, the standard homeowner’s insurance policy will cover those types of messes.
Washing Machine

Water Heater Rupture

Sediment build-up, corrosion from rust, and too much internal pressure are the three main reasons why your water heater may rupture and cause water damage to your home. It’s important to regularly maintain your water heater, with the help of a licensed professional in order to avoid these issues. As stated before, if repair work isn’t properly documented or performed, your insurance policy may not cover the water damages.

Roof Leaks

Water damage caused by a roof leak can be covered by your insurance policy if the damage happens internally within your home, but the roof itself will not typically be covered. Only the items within your home that receive water damage will be covered by the homeowner’s insurance policy. 

Destructive Weather

Excluding flooding from nearby water sources and earthquakes, destructive weather that may cause water damage can be covered by insurance policies. Heavy ice storms or rain that cause significant damage to your home often fall under one of the perils covered by homeowner insurance.

Water Damages That Standard Homeowners Insurance Does Not Cover

Homeowners should understand that certain damages caused by water will not be covered by their standard homeowners insurance policies. Those include, but are not exclusively limited to, water damages from flooding from an outside source and from earthquakes. These naturally occurring disasters typically need separate insurance policies to protect the homes. Flooding from nearby water sources that cause water damage is separate from a homeowner’s usual insurance policy - the same stands for insurance policies that cover damages that occur from earthquakes. 

There are other possible occurrences that may cause water damage, that are not typically covered by homeowners insurance. For example, damage from unresolved maintenance such as a continuous leaky faucet or other plumbing fixtures that have needed to be addressed may not be covered by an insurance company. Homeowners insurance also does not typically cover water backup from an outside drain or sewer line. Many homeowners worried about sewer backup causing damage to their homes, will purchase backup insurance to cover potential issues from this cause. 

Some insurance policies will cover mold, but more often than not, mold remediation is not included in standard homeowners insurance policies. Mold can cause many issues, including respiratory infections and allergies. Water damage is usually the primary reason mold will occur in a home, which is why it is important to prevent water damage from happening in the first place. If you believe that you do have a mold issue within your home, a professional company can help you determine what steps you need to take in order to resolve this issue. It is also important to make sure that when buying a home, you have a thorough inspection done that checks for previous mold problems. 

Understanding Your Homeowners Insurance Policy and Potential Water Damage

It is important to check in on any insurance policy changes that your insurance company may implement each year. Check into your policy once annually and make sure that you understand how much is covered by your policy if water damage does occur. Homeowners insurance typically covers a few main areas which include the dwelling (structure of your home), personal belongings (includes furniture, electronics, etc,) and liability (injuries occurring from damages). 

Having a clear understanding of how much of your home is protected, will assist during the process of making a claim if water damage does occur in your home. Keep a hard copy of your insurance policy in a safe place, with documents that are relative to any repairs that have been made to plumbing, appliances, roofing, etc. 

Water damage is never something that you want to deal with, but preparation and knowledge will help you in the long run. Familiarize yourself with your homeowner’s insurance policy and licensed professionals that can help you make repairs or remediate damages as needed. 
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