Is Your Home Ready for Spring?
Spring is here and with the warmer temperatures comes melting snow and heavy rains. And while it’s true that April showers bring May flowers, they also can also wreak havoc on a home through backed up sewers and drains, as well as sump pump overflows. Many homeowners don’t realize until it’s too late that their homeowner insurance policy doesn’t cover water damage resulting from backups, unless specifically purchased. Now is the time to make sure your home is prepared.
Most homeowner policies contain exclusions for water damage to dwellings and personal property as a result of backup of sewers or drains. It’s important to examine your policy and understand what protection you have, but you should also be proactive and take steps to prevent any damage from occurring whenever possible.
Special consideration and maintenance of systems should be undertaken to avoid potential water hazards. Sump pump systems should be checked for age and working condition, including ensuring that sump back-up systems are installed and maintained. The most effective sump back-up systems are gravity-driven because they are not dependent on an electrical power source in the event of an outage. Vulnerable or perishable personal property susceptible to water damage should be elevated off surfaces such as basement floors and crawl space foundations to limit damage exposure. Regular cleaning and maintenance of gutters and downspouts as well as sub-surface drainage lines will help avoid ground over-saturation near foundations.
Flooding usually refers to water damage from natural sources or bodies of water rather than from manmade sources such as plumbing systems. In fact, virtually every homeowner’s policy excludes flood coverage. However, flood coverage is available through the government’s National Flood Insurance Program and can be obtained through most agents.
We recommend you consult with your agent to thoroughly assess your needs, evaluate all of your policy coverages, conditions and exclusions and answer your questions. Do it before the damage comes and it’s too late.