When any amount of water gets into your basement, it can leave you with a huge mess on your hands. Cleaning up a wet basement involves removing the water, drying it out, salvaging the goods that got wet, and repairing any structural issues that were affected by the water. This can cost a lot of money to repair, but if you have homeowner's insurance, your policy might cover the costs of the repairs.
Homeowner's insurance covers the expenses in certain situations
The first thing to understand is that homeowner's insurance will often cover the expenses related to cleaning up a wet basement, but this will depend on several things. The first thing it depends on is the cause of the wet basement. If the basement ended up wet due to an abnormally large amount of rain your community experienced this year, then your policy would likely cover the costs of repairs. If the problem occurred from a burst plumbing pipe, your policy would also likely cover the costs of repairs. If the problem was caused by anything abnormal, sudden, or strange, it would likely be covered under your policy.
Homeowner's insurance will not cover the expenses in other situations
There are also causes of a basement flooding that would be excluded from coverage from your home insurance policy. One of the reasons an insurance company would deny the claim is if the water damage was due to a slow leak in the plumbing pipes. In this case, you should have fixed the problem, and if you had, your basement would not be flooded. You would also not be covered if the damage was a result of a lack of any type of maintenance to your home, such as roof maintenance or gutter maintenance.
Steps you can take as a homeowner to avoid costly expenses and problems
As a homeowner, you should do all you can to prevent damage to your home, which means making repairs as needed and performing all types of maintenance your home needs. This includes maintaining your gutters and roof, and it also includes maintaining your plumbing system. Proper maintenance will help you prevent most problems in your home.
If you do everything you can to prevent damage to your home, your policy should cover the costs of repairs if you ever encounter a problem like this. To learn more about homeowner's coverage, talk to an agency today.
Share15 October 2019
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