Got sucked into a mystery movie on TV last night. This
teenager in a ritzy neighborhood lives next door to a middle-aged man, whom he
suspects is a killer. The climax of the
movie, of course, is at the end, when the teenager sneaks into the man's house,
and discovers a hidden room that leads to a basement, containing a huge, deep
body of water, in which he discovers some bad things.
I won't get into anymore details about the movie, which, although
it started out well, became more unbelievable as it went on. When the teen went into the man's basement,
my insurance-nerd mind started drifting to how poor an insurance risk that
"nice" house was. I started
evaluating this home on its insurable merits. Water in the basement can lead to
foundation failure, not to mention growing mold everywhere. I was telling myself, "Gee, I'd hate to
be this killer's insurance agent", and "How did he ever get a policy
in the first place, with a lake in his basement?"!
Water in and under your house can lead to all kinds of
problems. And to add more insult to
injury, insurance policies likely won't cover damage done by water when it's
been going on for some time. Say you've got
a pipe in your shower that's leaking behind the wall, and over time, rots out
the subfloor in the bathroom. By this time, this situation is likely NOT
covered by insurance, because it happened over time and was not addressed
earlier.
Same thing with a leak that causes mold to develop. If it's been growing as a result of all that
water, that means the original leak started a long time ago, and your
insurance probably won't cover anything.
The insurance industry, as a whole, sees long-term water
leaks and its resulting damage as a customer maintenance-related issue, where the
homeowner should have known about it far earlier, when it could have been
addressed easier.
In general, insurance covers things that are "sudden
and accidental" like a pipe bursting, a tree falling on a house, or lightning
striking the house and starting a fire. That's why
we have to be vigilant to all things related to our home plumbing, because they are
not always readily visible. Look for warning
signs -- spots on the ceilings, a wet crawlspace, the sound of dripping behind
a wall, water collecting cabinets under a sink -- are a few examples.Good luck in solving any potential water mysteries in your home!
David Yates Insurance Agency
1881 General George Patton Dr., Suite 103
Franklin, TN 37067Phone 615-778-1816 Fax 615-778-1817
dyates1@farmersagent.com
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