April showers bring May flowers. But when rain is abundant and seeps into your basement causing flooding, or a power outage causes your sump pump to fail, customers are often confused about whether their homeowner’s insurance will cover any damages caused by flooding to their basement or crawl space. The professionals at Mitchell-Joseph Insurance know it’s important that customers are aware that a basic homeowner’s insurance policy may not be enough to protect them against loss when water is not your friend.
Water Backup Insurance vs. Flood Insurance
If you’re concerned about protecting your home or belongings due to your basement flooding, you may be wondering if you need flood insurance or water backup insurance. These two types of insurance are not the same. Let’s take a closer look at both types of coverage. You may want to consider adding one or both to your insurance portfolio.
About Water Backup Insurance
Damages to your property or belongings because of a water backup issue is not always included in a basic home insurance policy. Water backup insurance coverage reimburses you for damages when water overflows from the following:
When a sump pump fails from overuse or other mechanical issues, or a power outage prevents it from working
When water backs up due to the overflow of toilets, sinks, and drains due to clogging
When sewers backup due to aging, tree roots, or blockages in sewage pipelines, causing wastewater to backup into a home or business
About Flood Insurance
Flood insurance provides coverage for damages to your home, including its foundation from water coming from outside and down into your home or business. This is usually caused by flooding from heavy rains, rivers or streams overflowing, or mud/rocks/logs going downhill due to heavy rain.
Personal belongings are covered by some flood insurance policies, but not all. If you want coverage for the contents of your basement, talk to one of our agents at Mitchell-Joseph Insurance.
Homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage caused by flooding. This is why we recommend that you consider a flood insurance policy, if you live near a body of water, or on (or at the base of) a hillside that could give way due to heavy rain.
Recommendations
Your homeowner’s policy does not include flood damage and may or may not include water backup coverage. If you’re wondering if you should purchase water backup insurance and/or flood insurance, we recommend having both in place to give you the greatest peace of mind. If you’re not sure exactly what your home insurance policy covers, or if you have more questions, give our office a call and we’ll answer any questions you may have. Call us at (585) 624-2180 or contact us via email.