Marty Johnson: Hello. Marty Johnson, JMW Insurance Solutions. Can homeowners insurance cover water damage? It depends on the source of the water. Damage from outside of the house, the water comes rushing in through the doors or something like that, typically not going to be covered under home insurance unless you have certain types of endorsements or policies. But on a typical HO3 homeowners policy, if your water heater breaks, and floods your hallway, that typically is covered under home insurance. Pipes break inside the walls, that is typically covered. Your roof leaks from the rain, which is typically covered as well.
Now, there are some specialties too, and you’ve got to make sure that you understand them. If you’re not maintaining your roof and doing a roof inspection from time to time, that could create a problem with the home insurance claim. If you notice that a pipe is dripping or you hear a drip on one of your pipes, and you don’t do anything, that can create an issue with the claim as well, the same thing with the maintenance of your water heater. So staying on top of these things and making sure that you’re listening for these things and acting quickly is really, really important. But in most cases, water damage is covered inside your home on an HO3 home insurance policy.
Thank you have much. Have a great day.
