Home Water Damage Can Cause Major Problems

Unfortunately, home water damage occurs more often than many think. One of the more catastrophic events is flooding from a hurricane or major storm. This will generally cause widespread damage to a community and is often seen on the news.

Most home owners insurance policies do not cover such flooding. You will need to have a separate policy that is issued by the federal government to cover your losses. Many homeowners elect to not carry this coverage if they don't live in a flood plain and aren't required to by their mortgage company.

This can be a very costly choice to make. Many flooding events actually happen outside of know flood plains. Be sure to consider this before opting to not carry this extra coverage. Just because it hasn't happened, doesn't mean it won't. If it does, you could lose everything and it could have been prevented.

More home water damage actually happens with less well known events.

Some places that mold can easily grow:

• Damp basements with dirt floors or water problems.
• Behind and under toilets, tubs, showers, and bathroom walls.
• Leaking roofs and attics.
• Under sinks.
• In kitchens and bathrooms that aren't well ventilated.
• Many times flooding will occur in areas of a home instead of your whole house.

Some more common causes of flooding in a home or business are:

• Improper grading of a property. Even uneven settling can cause drain off that may cause flooding.
• Appliances that have a slow leak or break a part and flood the area.
• Basement walls that seep.
• Burst pipes.
• Sewage back up into the home.
• Flooding from living too close to a lake, stream or river.

Many home owner insurance policies will cover a flooding within your home that happens from an internal source. There are many instances when they won't, though.

Be sure to check your policy yearly to be confident that your needs are met and that you will be taken care of financially in the unfortunate circumstance of a flood. If you don't understand the coverage, you may be left with uncovered expenses.

It is also important to understand the language of your policy and to explain the home water damage accurately. A flood is from an outside source. A river, lake, stream or major storm. Just because your basement is full of water, it isn't a flood. It is a burst pipe etc... this is important to the insurance company and could make a difference in whether your claim is covered or not.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sam_Barton/8151

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