Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Water Damage From Toilet?
21750 POINTSview profileJim WinklerCEO/Owner, Winkler Financial Group, Houston, TexasGreat question! The short answer is that it should, assuming that the damage wasn't caused by some form of negligence. The thing to consider though, is this - how much was the estimate for the repair of the damages? Would it be less than the cost you will incur if / when your premiums increase after filing a claim for that damage? For example - the estimate to repair is $200. You file a claim, and the company pays it, and then increases your premiums by $30, let's say. Your cost for insurance that year now is increased by $360 (30x12=360). It cost you $160 to get your $200 work done for you. It is the same situation with auto insurance and accident claims. Be careful, and contact your agent, or other homeowners, and get an idea of what the rate increases are. You may even find that they have a "forgiveness" type of clause where it won't raise the rate. Hope that helps! Thanks for asking!Answered on April 18, 2014flag this answer
820 POINTSview profilePete WittmanPresident, The Wittman Group, TennesseeNot all home owners policies are created equally! The cause of loss determines if the damage will be covered by the insurance company. Most home owners policies cover a broad range of covered losses. However, some policies only cover "named perils", like fire, wind or hail. Let's assume you had the broad range. The cause of loss would be next. If the cause was a slow leaking overtime caused by not fixing a leaky pipe then insurance is not designed to cover that. But, if it was a sudden accidental ( not if you took a baseball bat to it in anger) breaking of the toilet, it would cover the damage in this case. Usually, the damages in the sudden breakage are severe enough that you would not want to self-insure and fix it yourself. Recently, we had a client have a broken toilet causing water damage. It started out as ~$1000, but as the plumber got into the repairs & replacing the toilet, the water damage had found under the tile, which turned into about $8000. So, we went from not filing to filing a claim. Check with your agent regarding filing the claim!Answered on April 18, 2014flag this answer
37376 POINTSview profileDavid G. Pipes, CLU®, RICP®Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, CaliforniaEven in a policy with the widest range of coverage generally excludes water entering the house from outside, specifically toilet backup. Many companies will let the homeowner purchase that coverage for an additional premium, but few policyholders take advantage of that offer.Answered on April 28, 2014flag this answer
Did you find these answers helpful?
Yes
No
Go!
Add Your Answer To This Question
You must be logged in to add your answer.
.JPG){kind=avatar}
