Does hazard insurance cover water damage?

Question

Our home needs to be condemned. During the last several weeks we have had numerous water leaks due to the freezing weather and water lines busting. Now our flooring and sub flooring have to be replaced. Along with both bathrooms. We now have a mold issue that leaves me with a constant headache. I have called my morgage company to get a copy of my policy, they said it would be 3 to 5 business days just to fax it to me. My husband repaired the leaks but the damage was already done. If the county came out our house it would be condemned. We are on bankruptcy so I cant get a loan to bring it up to code. I dont know what to do. Will my policy cover the damage, how does it work, and how long would we be out of a home? Anybody been in this situation or know what to do?

Answer 1

HazARDS  insurance may be 'all hazards or specified hazards. So you really have to know what you have.

Depending on where you are in your bankruptcy, insurance proceedings are usually paid on condition of getting the damage repaired, or the building replaced. In some situations a mortgage holder may have to agree to a rebuild or repair decision. Again, nothing short of reading the contract will do.

Answer 2

It all depends on the language in your policy and the type of policy you have. The standard home owners policy (HO3) does provide some coverage for water damage. I don't have enough information to tell you if this loss will be covered or not. Only an adjuster from your insurance company can determine that.

The only thing you can do is file a claim and see what happens.

You need to call your insurance agent and report the claim.

Answer 3

First, do you have the coverage WITH the mortgage company?  That is what it sounds like, only banks call homeowners insurance "hazard" insurance, or do you have your own homeowners policy that you purchased on your own?  This will make a difference.  Any policy with the mortgage company will only cover the mortgage companies interest, not yours.  It will not have any contents coverage or liability coverage.  You probably won't have any loss of use either.  I really hope you have your own policy.  Also, if you do have a policy with the bank, do you realize you are probably spending 2 to 3 TIMES the cost of your own policy with much LESS coverage?  Also, you should always read & understand your policy before you have a loss so you don't get yourself in a bad situation.  If you have questions, you call your agent.

If you have a basic form policy (HO1 or DP1) you do not have water damage coverage.

Did you turn off the water as soon as the first pipe burst?  Did you let this keep happening?  If many pipes burst over the course of several weeks, you may have several claims here, it is not ONE incident, so any deductible will be applied several times.  If more than one pipe burst at the same time, then it is one claim.  Remember you are obligated on a standard homeowner policy to "mitigate" your damages, meaning, you need to do what you can to keep more damage from happening.  If you let the water keep running over several weeks, you didn't do that.

Mold can be cleaned up if done by a professional, but most policies have a $10,000 limitation on mold.  Call a local water mitigation company & if you can't afford to get them out to your house, ask them how you can dry up the water yourself to keep more mold from forming.  You will probably have to take out any soft flooring that is damaged, but keep it.  You would need dehumidifiers to get the moisture out of the air.  You may want to get a air purifier.  Get fans to blow on the wet areas to help dry them out.   However, these things may or may not be covered, depending on your policy, but if you want to save your house, do as much as you can to start cleaning up, NOW, don't wait for the adjuster.  Keep everything you take out to show the adjuster.  If the floor & subfloor are that damaged, they have been wet for a while.

Why did you wait so long to report this?  You probably have much more damage than you would have if the water was turned off immediately & you reported the damage immediately to your insurance company.

Answer 4

You don't simply need a copy of your policy. ( That response on three days to get a fax is outragous).  You need an adjuster to come out and make a determination, and you need to speak to your agent immediately.  

If it is covered, I'd say the real issue will be your policy limits on water damage and how it is paid out. My company paid me in cash, right up to the limit of $17K (on a kitchen flood). This allowed me to do most of work myself, and I spent in on a complete remodel of the area by putting in about $10 of my own money.

Note the low limit on damage, however. Many policies are limited this way, and no one notices until it is too late.

Answer 5

It depends on the policy, of course, but it's unlikely insurance coverage extends to damage created by an act of God such as freezing weather. Even worse, the mold issue you describe is now FINALLY! more widely recognized by both the construction and the medical establishment. More about toxic mold here http://bccondos.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?... Do click, too, on the stuff under moisture issues.

Because of the mold, you would probably be well advised to cut your losses, leave the premises with your health reasonably intact and consider options from a place where you can at least breathe.

Sorry the news is not better. BUT it could be worse, too.