Preventing Water Damage Claims

The recent, devastating rainstorms have affected us over the past month. As your insurance agents, we want you to know that we are here and ready to help with whatever we can.

With that in mind, we have been receiving many calls regarding how homeowners insurance will respond to these types of events.
In general, how your insurance policy will respond to water damage claims depends upon how the water entered your house.

There basically are two insurance policies that deal with a homeowner’s damage due to water — a flood insurance policy and a homeowners insurance policy. Losses not covered by one of the policies may be covered by the other.

While insurance policies may differ in the coverage provided from homeowner to homeowner, there often are basic features common to all policies. Our goal with this brief letter is to provide you with general information on most standard policies. As your specific insurance policy may differ in coverage and terms, we highly recommend that you give us a call if you have any specific questions.

FLOOD INSURANCE
As the name implies, a standard flood insurance policy, which the National Flood Insurance Program writes, provides coverage up to the policy limit for damage caused by a flood. The dictionary defines “flood” as a rising and overflowing body of water onto normally dry land.

For insurance purposes, the word “rising” in this definition is the key to distinguishing flood damage from water damage. Generally, damage caused by water on the ground at some point before damaging your home is considered flood damage. A handful of examples of flood damage include:

• A nearby river overflows its banks and washes into your home.
• Heavy rain seeps into your basement because the soil can’t absorb the water quickly enough.
• A heavy rain or flash flood causes the hill behind your house to collapse into a mudslide that oozes into your home.

Flood damage to your home can be insured only with a flood insurance policy — no other insurance will cover flood damage.

HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE
A homeowners insurance policy doesn’t provide coverage for flood damage, but it does provide coverage for many types of water damage to your home.
Just the opposite of flood damage, for insurance purposes, water damage is considered to occur when water damages your home before the water comes in contact with the ground. A few examples of water damage include:

• A hailstorm smashes your window, permitting hail and rain-free access into your home.
• Heavy rain soaks through the roof, allowing water to drip through your attic or ceiling.
• A broken water pipe spews water into your home.

Even if your homeowners’ insurance policy does not cover flood or water damage, losses from theft, fire, or explosion resulting from water damage are covered. For example, if a nearby creek overflows and floods your home, and looters steal some of your furnishings after you evacuate, your homeowners’ insurance would cover the theft because it directly results from the water damage. However, the flood damage would be covered only if you have flood insurance.

It’s important to note that flood insurance and homeowners insurance do not duplicate coverage for water damage. Instead, they complement each other.

We hope this provides you with insight into how both flood insurance and homeowners insurance will respond to water damage claims.
If you have any questions or would like to submit a claim, please feel free to give our office a call.