Homeowners
First it was towns mandating water restrictions as a result of water shortages. Now the focus is on insurance companies mandating and further incentivizing policyholder installation of water security devices in their homes. The risk of allowing leaks to continue running in your house are greater then you probably imagine and are one of the biggest causes of homeowner claims. Chances are, you or someone you know has had water damage and the consequences can be severe including:
- Property and structural damage
- Uninhabitable home during restoration
- Loss of irreplaceable personal items
- Full deductible payout
- High water bills from hidden leaks
- Toxic mold colonization
- Increased insurance premiums
- Non-renewable insurance policy
- Difficulty selling house
Most people believe that like other disasters, water damage is what happens to other people. In reality, you are 6 times more likely to have water damage than a burglary and 10 times more likely to have water damage than a fire. Everyone protects their house in some way from fire and intruders but so few people realize that the more common source of danger is flowing through your floors, ceilings and walls every day!
If you’ve already had a water damage claim, don’t assume the trouble is over because according to Chubb Personal Risk Services Claims Data, statistics show you are wice as likley to have a second water loss if you’ve had one already! Water damage claims cost Billions of dollars annually in homeowner policy property losses and if your insurance company pays, they could end up requiring you to install one afterwards just to maintain your coverage or, they could simply cancel you. In this case, it will be much harder for you to find affordable property insurance with another carrier and some of those may still require you to install one before they agree to offer you a new policy.
Insurance companies rely on a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange or C.L.U.E. report to assess your claims history when determining your insurability and rates. These reports include your name, address, a description of your property, policy number, claim dates, type of loss and amounts paid.
If you think you can just sell the house to escape it, they get you there too. All of your potential buyers have access to this information as well when getting insurance quotes for the property before closing on your house so, even if you fully own the home and self-insure, if the property is uninsurable, a potential buyer may not be able to get a mortgage without insurance when you decide to sell. This is of course, if the home inspector does not notice something before an offer is even made!
The benefits of installing water security systems in your house are well worth the cost and are far less expensive than experiencing catastrophic water damage. A few benefits include:
- Peace of mind
- Insurance policy discounts
- Reduced or no payout of deductible
- Protection from catastrophic water loss
- Awareness & control of personal water use
- Reduced water bills
- Water conservation
- Reduced risk from the issues in the previous bullet list!
If the only thing stopping you from installing a system is the perceived cost, we can help you find affordable options. If you are just not sure what system to go with, we can help you decide. If you think it is too much of a hassle or you don’t understand how they work, give us a call and we will help explain how easy it can be to live with one.
If you think water damage won’t happen to you, just remember we are here to help you when it does because statistically, it is very likely it will.