FIGMAN's Blog

Insurance did you know.....6.0

 

 

The purpose of this blog is to help everyone become more informed as insurance buying consumers. It is my plan to post something new every couple weeks. Some of this will be very basic and some in more detail. The information will be based on Missouri but most will apply to Illinois as well. I entertain your questions on the blog and if you want to ask something in private you can email me.

 

Many people are confused related to their home insurance policy related to water damage. Here is a basic concept to keep in mind when thinking of your insurance coverage related to water damage.

 

If the water originated within the structure of your home and it was a sudden and accidental direct physical cause then you will likely have coverage for the loss.

 

If the water originates outside the structure of your home no matter what the cause then generally it is not a covered loss.

 

Here are some examples;

 

Your water pipe freezes and breaks and causes water damage inside your home this should be a covered loss. This meets the definition of a sudden accidental direct physical cause within the walls of the structure of your home. This loss is covered on all Special Form policies in Missouri.

 

 

The rain water overflows your gutters because your gutter is not drained away from the home properly and the water runs along side your basement walls and floods your basement. There is no coverage for this as there is no accidental direct physical cause that occurred. This is considered a lack of proper installation or the lack of maintaining your property properly. The issue is also on the

outside of the structure of the home with no damage to the structure. This is considered flood water and can only be covered by flood insurance.

 

It hails so hard that the hail causes your roof enough damage that you have a leak in the ceiling and the ceiling falls in. This is a covered loss as you have the accidental direct physical cause of hail that created the damage to cause the water to get in the house.

The damage is also on the structure of the home. This loss is covered on all Special Form policies in Missouri.

 

You live at the bottom of a large hill or bluff. It comes a hard down pour and the water runs off from the hill side against you home and floods the basement. This is considered a flood because the water is considered run off or flood water. There are two reasons the event is not covered. First the water is considered flood and it is an excluded cause of loss in the insurance policy.

Secondly the water did not originate from within the structure of the home. The only way to cover this is through Flood Insurance.

 

If you live near or in a Flood Plain you should consider buying Flood Insurance to cover flood water damage. You should also consider buying Sewer and Drain Backup coverage as an endorsement for your home policy. The Sewer and Drain backup coverage covers a loss due to a sewer or drain backup in your home.

 

If you have questions I will be glad to answer them.