Does Your Pennsylvania Home Insurance Cover Water Damage?

Although you might not often think of water as being a particularly threatening substance, even small amounts can inflict devastating damage on your home. Water damage may cause extensive damage to your home’s walls, floors, roof, electrical systems and other key components, potentially incurring significant financial repercussions. In some cases, you may be able to rely on home insurance to help with such costs, but this topic can be complicated.

Is Water Damage Covered by Standard Home Insurance?

Coverage for damage caused by water can vary depending on various criteria, including how and why your property damage occurred. Consider the following sources of water damage and how standard home coverage might or might not apply:

• Floods—If rising water, such as that caused by heavy precipitation, rapid snowmelt or overflowing lakes and rivers, enters your home and causes damage, standard home insurance will not typically offer aid. Floods are explicitly excluded from most standard policies, necessitating additional coverage through an endorsement or separate policy.

• Burst pipes—How insurance treats these incidents can be complicated. Generally, if a pipe bursts suddenly, causing water to spill out into your home, standard home insurance can cover repair and restoration costs. However, if insurers find that the incident was due to poor maintenance or neglect, they may deny your claim.

• Leaks—If your walls, windows, roof or pipes have leaks, you should repair them as soon as possible. Home insurance typically excludes incidents where carriers deem damage to have been due to a failure to repair or maintain your home, meaning that if you knew about leaks and failed to prevent water damage, you may be on your own.

• Water and sewer backups—Incidents in which pipes back up into your basement or other parts of your home are not typically covered by standard home insurance. However, you can often purchase an endorsement to financially protect against these situations.

We’re Here to Help

At Jack L. Bonus Insurance Agency, we understand the complexities and nuances of home insurance and can help you compose a policy that can address various water damage issues. Contact us today to get started.

This blog is intended for informational and educational use only. It is not exhaustive and should not be construed as legal advice. Please contact your insurance professional for further information.