It’s that time of year that much of the country begins to think about April showers and along with it, the possibility of wet basements. For other areas, there isn’t much of a threat of flooding until the Summer months. Regardless of where you live, water can cause a lot of damage to your home.
Unwanted water in your home comes from various sources, including a leaky pipe or roof, water overflow, water backup, and floods. The question is, are any of these covered by your homeowners insurance?
Water Backup & Overflow
Most homeowners insurance policies provide coverage for leaky pipes or appliances, or the overflow of water, for example, a tub overflowing. You are also likely covered if you have a roof leak that causes damage to your ceiling.
Unfortunately, if you experience a loss caused by a backed-up drain or sewer line, or if your basement floods due to a leaky basement, or due to rising water levels because of a flood, your homeowners insurance will not likely provide any help.
The good news is, you can obtain coverage for water or sewer backup by adding an endorsement to your homeowners policy. Many if not most homeowners already have this coverage, but if you are unsure, you may want to give us a call to confirm this coverage.
Flood Damage
Finally, there is the subject of losses due to a flood. As you may already know, losses due to a flood are not covered by any homeowners insurance policy. For this, you need to have a Flood Insurance Policy.
A flood is defined as “a general and temporary condition where two or more acres of normally dry land or two or more properties are inundated by water or mudflow.” In other words, anywhere it rains it can flood. It is also important to note that there is a 30-day waiting period before your new flood insurance policy is in effect. So in order to have coverage on April 1st, you would need to have coverage in place March 1st. Even though we are now in the middle of March, you still may want to consider a flood insurance policy.
If you have questions about your coverage, feel free to give us a call, we’d be more than happy to help.