Do you have water damage insurance?

[TexasRachel]

Not flood, but water damage. I'm just wondering how common this is.

[ktgrok]

My regular home owner's policy covers waterdamage. I thought that was standard?

[MrsBear]

Our policy includes any water damage, regardless of source, but with a per incident limit of $15,000 for the damage specifically caused by water, be it from a burst pipe, a broken window in a rain storm, etc., the only restriction is that it cannot be from a flood (river rising, lake overflow, etc.).

 

We do not have flood insurance since we're not within even a 500 year area (0.2% chance in any given year over 500 years).

[Spryte]

Our policy covers it, I can't remember if it was something we added on. We are grateful to have had it. A toilet flooded our upstairs last year, and caused major damage to ceilings and floors. Ins company sent a water mitigation company to be sure we did not end up with mold, and covered our contractor replacing everything. It was a mess, but it would have been worse without good coverage.

[Jennifer in MI]

Our policy includes any water damage, regardless of source, but with a per incident limit of $15,000 for the damage specifically caused by water, be it from a burst pipe, a broken window in a rain storm, etc., the only restriction is that it cannot be from a flood (river rising, lake overflow, etc.).

 

We do not have flood insurance since we're not within even a 500 year area (0.2% chance in any given year over 500 years).

 

We have this same type of policy, but we just upped ours to $50,000. A LOT of people in my area have had flooded basements in recent years. Flooded, as in, 2 − 3 feet.

[Journey]

I work for a nationwide (but not nationwide!) insurance company. Just wanted to remind you guys that if you have a sump pump in your basement you may need "water backup, that's not the same as water damage insurance. FYI

[dsmith]

My in-laws have some kind of water damage protection. When there was a leak in the upstairs bathroom that caused water damage to the ceiling, it was covered. When the waste water line backed up due to root damage causing lots of damage in the basement, that was not covered. The insurance company said they needed a special rider for that. We’ve asked them to add to the policy if we pay for it, since we are the ones using the basement, but they haven’t yet. I wonder if we can get a renter policy if we are sharing the house? I don’t know enough about insurance...:tongue_smilie:

[Carrie12345]

I married a guy in the water damage business. Does that count? ;) After 12 years, even if he leaves me, I pretty much know how to take care of it on my own. :D

[TexasRachel]

I thought it was standard too. Apparently not on our policy. Ask me how I know. :tongue_smilie: Hopefully, the contractor is taking care of everything because our house is only four years old and the majority of the damage is his fault. But I'm not holding my breath because we haven't had good luck with him fixing things in the past.

[MrsBear]

We have this same type of policy, but we just upped ours to $50,000. A LOT of people in my area have had flooded basements in recent years. Flooded, as in, 2 − 3 feet.

 

I'd consider upping it if we actually had a threat - our house sits on the top of a pretty high hill and our lower level isn't below grade (well, except one wall on the north side of the house), so who knows?

[J-rap]

Our regular homeowners insurance covers this. (Not flooding, from the outside, but inside problems.) For example, last winter, we were not living in our home due to my husband's health. A small part on our furnace broke on the coldest night of the year, so the heat went out. Three out of the four main water pipes in the home froze, then burst, and most of our home was flooded. It cost thousands and thousands of dollars to repair it. All of it but the $400 deductible was covered by our homeowners insurance.