It might not surprise you to know that water damage is just about the most common reason that policyholders submit claims on their homeowner’s policy. Whether it is a flooded basement, cracked pipes, or leaking appliances many people never look deep enough into their home insurance policy until an accident occurs. Sure, many companies will typically replace your flooring if it is damaged by a leaking hot water heater but it may not replace the hot water heater itself. On the other hand, if you have a pipe burst from cold weather then your insurance policy may cover any repairs to your home as well as the pipes themselves.

The following scenarios will likely help answer some of your home insurance questions

The washing machine seal goes out, flooding your washroom.

  • Is this covered? Most likely. It may depend however on how the insurance company views the issue. Was the failure due to lack of proper maintenance or due to catastrophic failure? Usually the damage from a busted appliance is covered as long as you have been maintaining it properly.

The temperature falls below freezing leading to frozen and busted water pipes. Now your floor is covered in water.

  • Is this covered? Yes. There is one caveat to this however. If you have left the house empty and unheated, then the home insurance policy will likely not cover the damage due to negligence on your part.

Your hot tub leaks out running across your well-manicured lawn and leads to flooding in the basement.

  • Is this covered? This is a bit trickier to answer. While the damage to the basement and any personal property in it will likely be covered, many policies will not cover water damage to a yard unless it is specified in the policy itself. Here is the tricky part – the damage from a leaky pool or hot tub would not be covered unless the leak is due to damage from something such as a fallen tree or from some outside factor of that nature.

These are just three scenarios that come to mind when considering whether water damage will be covered by your homeowners’ insurance policy. When you have questions however the best thing you can do is to give your local insurance agency a call. Here at The Hoffman Agency we are ready, willing, and able to answer any questions you might have when it comes to knowing whether your policy covers issues such as water damage. Give us a call and find out more on how you can get the best homeowners’ policy to suit your needs today.