If you have a major disaster at home, your homeowner’s insurance becomes your lifesaver. Imagine, your house faces the disaster like a fire or a flood, you could be out tens of thousands of dollars for repairs or renovations. Fortunately, in most of the circumstances, your insurance should be there to pick up most or all of the cost. However, there can be some situations where your insurance should be there to pick up most all of the cost. Basement flooding is one of the biggest disaster that we face. We call residential plumbing services for repairs, but their cost can be covered by the insurance. However sometimes, you will have to bear a bag of the entire bill, some of the issues cannot be covered under it. To give an example, if you experience a plumbing leak caused by your own negligence, you will have to pay it all. Insurance company can’t help you with such situations. Following are some more situations where homeowners insurance won’t cover the expenses-
Gradual leaks not applicable – Water damage is one of the most common causes of insurance claims. Yes, it is true that your you insurance company is there to help in such times, but that doesn’t mean that it absolve your responsibility to take care of your plumbing system. You still have to maintain to prevent the normal wear and tear. To give an example, if you experience gradual water damage from a hidden plumbing leak, your insurance policy is unlikely to cover the expenses. This is because finding and fixing the leak is considered a part of normal home maintenance.
On the same note, if you have an old washing or dishwasher which is not in use for long time, you might be exposed to repair costs when the appliance finally bite the dust in a puddle of water. Check your policy as most insurances don’t cover sewage back ups without special rider and flooding from an outside source like a river is almost never covered without specific flood insurance.
Accidental Damage – Another possibility that you should be aware of is frozen pipes, as they cause issue to most of the homeowners ever winter. Similar rules apply here, if you do not bother to prevent your pipes from freezing, you will not be covered, especially your home is unheated for days at a time. Also check your water heaters for heating up. Consult with trusted neighborhood plumbers for the solutions and solving the issue if there are any. Also check with your specific policy so you know for sure what is covered and what is not. Also check if the insurer provides for things like remediation of mold damage that results from a plumbing leak.
