subject: Insure Your Home Against Water Damage [print this page] You must have heard a lot about damage caused through water in a house. However, it is not very difficult to manage this damage. Two common reasons for water damage are: bursting of pipes and leaky roofs. Water damage can be very big depending upon the damage caused by it and extent of damage.
A common cause of flooding in the home is because of burst pipes. When the temperature drops to freezing levels, the water inside the pipes can freeze and cause damage. Homeowners can usually make a claim on the damage by the burst pipes.
However, an exception to the ability to make an insurance claim is when the home is left unoccupied or without any heat. The homeowner should do some arrangements at the time of leaving the house so that the water pipes do not freeze.
If you have pools in your house then leak or overflow in the pool can also cause flood in the lawns and in the basement. In this case, you should report the problem to the insurance agent honestly and clearly. By providing all the right details, it will become easier for you to get the claims approved.
The water damage that is called flood in your terms should actually be flood according to the insurance company as well. If your house is just submerged in water then it is not important that insurers will consider it as flood. Overflow of water from a lake, stream or other body of water is generally considered as flood.
It is always suggested that you should not call simple water damage as flood. Simply call the insurance agents and let them decide whether the situation is under insurance claim or not. Generally the water damage that is caused by breakdown of your household appliances like washing machine comes under insurance policy.
It is very important to discover the actual cause of washing machine breakdown. If it is simply because of machine malfunctioning or improperly maintained machine that is too old then you can not make any claim against it.
The insurance may be able to pay for the repair of the basement but not of the broken appliance. So it is better to get your home insured against water damage so that you can meet the emergencies.
