Does the plumbing in your Chicago home affect the quality of your homeowner’s insurance? Is there a chance that bad plumbing may be partly responsible for your high insurance premiums or inability to get certain types of coverage?
In this post, we explore these questions.
Homeowners insurance and your plumbing
In Chicago, the quality of the plumbing components in your home matters, says TG Management. If a home is determined to have a high risk for significant water damage that can potentially exceed its insurance policy limits, this can affect the homeowner’s insurance.
As a rule, homeowners insurance only covers plumbing-related damage if they are not the direct result of gradual wear & tear or poor maintenance. In other words, the policy guarantees coverage if the plumbing damage is caused by sudden and accidental events.
To help you understand, here is a more detailed explanation:
If a sudden leak from a broken pipe or faulty appliance damages your home, your homeowner’s insurance will cover the damage. But if that broken pipe is poorly maintained or has been leaking slowly, your insurance policy will not cover the damage.
Although homeowners insurance provides coverage for water damage, it includes limitations and exclusions. This is why the insurance adjuster takes pictures of your plumbing before approving your homeowner’s policy. What are they looking for?
How insurance companies assess your plumbing
The insurer will send an adjuster to do a general inspection of your home. During this process, the adjuster will take pictures of your plumbing to get a general idea of the style and age of the system. The adjuster usually looks out for the following:
- The age of your home
The year of the home’s construction gives the company insight into the age of the plumbing and the types of plumbing materials in your house. They want to know if the drains are made of iron or plastic and if the supply is copper or plastic.
- Corroded pipes
Since homeowners insurance covers water damage from sudden leaks but not from leaks caused by wear and tear, it is important to know the physical condition of your pipes. Corroded pipes that lead to sudden leaks are a problem.
- Pipe insulation
Copper pipes burst easily because they are inflexible and conduct heat very well. To prevent this, the pipes must be insulated. Although they are less prone to bursting, PVC pipes also need to be insulated. PEX pipes are the best because they expand to accommodate freezing water. The insurance company will take note of these details.
- Pipe connections
Connections between your water heater and the attached pipes influence the rate of pipe corrosion and the risk of pipe leaks in your home. Plastic inserts and brass fitting help to prevent corrosion in places where dissimilar metals meet. Also, water pipes should not be used as a grounding rod, as this can encourage corrosion.
- Presence of polybutylene plumbing
Because of its flexibility, ease of installation, and lower cost versus copper, polybutylene used to be a popular plumbing material. It was discontinued after it was found to react with chlorine and other water disinfectants. The insurance company adjuster will look for piping with the lettering PB.
- Quality of installation
The overall neatness of the plumbing will tell the adjuster if the work was done by a professional. The risk of “sudden and accidental” leaks and other plumbing problems increases if your plumbing is not installed professionally.
How will bad plumbing impact your homeowner’s insurance?
- Insurance denial
Issues like the presence of polybutylene piping in your plumbing can make your home uninsurable. Even if you are not denied, your home will be flagged as high risk, and this can lead to high premiums or avoidable policy exclusions.
- Voided insurance coverage
Some plumbing problems in your home can invalidate your insurance. If an insurance policy is voided, it is considered to have never existed and viewed as invalid from the start. If this happens, you will have no basis to make insurance claims for any water damage in your home.
- Higher insurance premiums
To determine how much premium you should pay, an insurer will assess the risk of plumbing issues in your home. Older plumbing materials, the physical state of the plumbing, and quality of maintenance are factors the company looks at to make this decision.
Plumbing maintenance strategies to preserve your insurance
- Proactive maintenance
Find and fix the problems in your plumbing before they happen. Proactive maintenance prevents issues, while reactive maintenance corrects them. A strategy that leaves you waiting for problems to occur before you act will cost more.
- Prompt repairs
Time is of the essence when dealing with plumbing issues in your home. The difference between a frayed pipe and a burst pipe is timely action to deal with the first problem to prevent the second.
- Professional solutions
Taking timely steps to fix a problem only matters if the problem is solved professionally. Investing in professional plumbing solutions is one of the best ways to secure your homeowner’s insurance.