I sat down with the experts to bring a better understanding of this nightmare to light. Hannah Blicher, Albany’s leading lady of disaster restoration, and Larry Beck, a 40 year veteran of homeowner’s insurance spill the tea on a complex topic you didn’t know you needed!
The Question: Is water damage covered under homeowner’s insurance?
Yes! But…not everything. You are expected to maintain your home within reason. Insurance covers damage, but does not cover repairs to the source of the leak. For example, if your refrigerator’s water line has been leaking into the floor, insurance will cover the damage to the floor, walls cabinets, etc. but the cost to repair the fridge line is on you. Because technically that is a maintenance issue and not covered by most homeowner’s insurance policies. However, that piece tends to be only a minor cost.
So what happens if you find water damage?
It’s a pretty simple process if you catch it early. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to use a classic kitchen sink leak as an example.
Let’s set the scene: Imagine you’re fishing around under your sink for the 409 spray, praying it’s safe to use on the surface you intend to clean. You feel something wet under the bottle.. The cabinet base is soaking wet! Oh and the funky U-shape pipe is dripping water?! Hannah refers to this a the “oh sh*t” moment. Here’s what you need to do:
Call your insurance carrier right away. They will set up a claim and assign it to a representative to investigate.
Larry, or your assigned adjuster will assess the damage and make a determination if the event causing the damage is covered under the policy. The Insurance Information Institute (III) outlines what kind of coverage is available for the structure of your home. In our sink claim, it will most likely be determined that the leak is due to wear and tear. This reason is likely is not covered under the insurance policy. But, the resulting damage is covered. So anything damaged by the water (cabinets, floors, wall coverings, etc.) would be covered.
Your adjust will also determine if the source of the leak was a sudden or accidental event, or a maintenance or wear and tear issue. Since you just discovered the leak it will be considered a sudden event, and you don’t have anything to worry about. But remember, insurance typically does not cover the source of the leak, just the damage it caused. This is an industry standard, and why maintenance is so important!
Note: If you had seen a small leak a six months prior but didn’t have it repaired, you would be in violation of your policy (for failure to report the claim promptly), making this a maintenance issue and your insurance is going to be less enthusiastic about covering the damage.
Another common example of sudden damage vs. maintenance is the water heater. Most of them have a 10-12 year life. Unfortunately, it’s very common for people to keep them 15-18 years. In an instance like this, your insurance company will take a closer look at the claim. The tank itself most likely wouldn’t be covered. If the resulting water damage appears to have been going on for a long period of time (indicating the damage began closer to when the tank was still covered under the policy), they will investigate how reasonable is it that you didn’t discover and report it till now. 
There are cases where is it very reasonable. In other cases, the resulting damage won’t be deemed reasonable that it took so long to discover it. This potential policy violation could result in the company denying coverage. Thankfully, insurance companies will do their best to find you coverage in the policy, though it is not guaranteed and depends greatly on the company and the adjuster.
Next Larry will contact a preferred mitigation company, like Servpro. But this is where you can make some decisions, too. You can opt to use a contractor of your choice, like a family friend with their own business that you’d like to support. Your adjuster will negotiate the costs.
How does the damage get repaired?
Hannah was kind enough to break down the whole restoration process for us because it’s a little technical. There is an entire segment of science allocated to measuring and removing moisture in the air called psychrometrics, not to be confused with psychometrics, the science of measuring mental capacities.
The restoration technicians will come in (usually within a matter of hours) to assess the damage. They will use psychometric meters to determine the moisture levels in the air and cabinets. Then set up fans and dryers to remove the moisture and circulate air. This has to be done very carefully in order to preserve the foundation of your home. If it’s dried too quickly your foundation can crack, and if it’s dried too slowly things will start to mold and create more damage. She warns that any company boasting about their quick dry times will likely be doing you a disservice; “We don’t decide, science decides” how quickly we can dry things out.
Let’s say a restoration technician inspects the area under the sink and determines the damage is fairly extensive. The sink appears to have been leaking for a couple weeks. The whole cabinet under the sink will need to be replaced due to mold and the floor beneath is soaked.
When will home home go back to normal?
So the technicians removed the damaged material and dry everything based on the moisture levels. It could be a matter of days or weeks depending on the damage, but for our kitchen sink situation let’s say it takes 4 days. Your technician will check in periodically to make sure things are running smoothly and Larry may visit the site to check in with you. Be sure to provide everyone with cookies and snacks!
Once it’s dry, the rebuild team will come replace your cabinet and put your sink back together. They are usually a part of the mitigation company so you won’t need to worry about finding and paying them. This will all be handled through Larry and Hannah.
Once your sink is back together you are all done! Most insurance and restoration companies want to make this is easy as possible for you, and reduce your stress during such an unexpected time. You will have some new, trusted friends you know you can rely on if you ever experience damage again.
Want to prevent future leaks under the sink?
We actually have an easy solution for you! Instead of dealing with the hassle of insurance and restoration (even though Hannah and Larry are each a treat to work with) you can prevent water damage under the sink altogether. Check out our SmartMatz™ and try them out for yourself.