When the temperatures drop and your pipes freeze, it can be a homeowner's worst nightmare. Water damage from burst pipes can cause extensive damage to your home, and it's important to know what your home insurance covers in such a situation. Generally, your home insurance will cover cleaning and repairs needed due to water damage as a result of a broken frozen pipe. However, if you turned off the heating when you left your house for a few days, causing your pipes to freeze when outside temperatures dropped, your claim may not be covered.
Homeowners insurance policies don't usually provide coverage for a broken pipe. However, in most cases, water damage caused by a pipe break is covered. It's important to take pictures of the affected area and of anything that was damaged, as well as where the water came from, such as a broken pipe or a hole in the roof. This is especially useful if mold develops in the future and can support your claim that the mold grew as a result of water damage and not through negligence.
If mold is believed to be caused by water damage, some insurers may require you to file a second claim for water damage, requiring you to pay another deductible before the repair is carried out. Homeowners insurance doesn't cover mold caused by water damage due to other problems, such as lack of maintenance, pool leaks, floods, and earthquakes. Water damage isn't always covered by your home insurance if it's not the result of an accident or a sudden, unexpected event. It's always difficult to give definitive answers when it comes to insurance coverage because a lot depends on the specific language of the policy and the cause of the claim.
You can also choose to hire a contractor to assess water damage and give you an estimate of the cost of the repair. Now that you know when your home insurance covers water damage, it's imperative that you contact your insurer as soon as possible once you discover water damage in your home. Standard home insurance policies cover water damage if it is sudden and internal, with the requirement that the water has never touched the outside ground. Avoid reporting damages that you know are not covered by your policy, since your insurance company can document it and it may seem like a claim to the insurance companies you work with in the future.
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