Having water damage insurance can be the difference in you paying your $500 deductible and you paying $15,000 for a detailed water damage restoration job! Water damage insurance is highly recommended, especially for areas that flood often or have at least flooded before. Compared to most other insurance coverages, water damage insurance is relatively inexpensive and is well worth the cost!

Coverage

Your homeowner's insurance policy should cover such things such as back-up, which often occurs in instances of heavy rainfall, appliance (dishwasher, refrigerator, not sump pump) failure or malfunction, frozen / busted pipes, and possibly other select cases.

It usually does not cover sump pump failure, ejector pump failure, or a drain malfunction. This is usually an addendum that must be purchased, often under the reference of "Sewer & Drain Coverage."

Payment

If you are covered by a water damage insurance plan, the insurance company will often send an adjuster to your home to assess the damages. This is especially true if you performed the water damage remediation yourself. If an IICRC certified company performed it, they may or may not send an adjuster out to look at the damages.

It usually does not cover sump pump failure, ejector pump failure, or a drain malfunction. This is usually an addendum that must be purchased, often under the reference of "Sewer & Drain Coverage."

If you performed the water damage yourself and want to make sure that the payment the insurance company is giving you is fair, you can pick up a copy of The Blue Book® and figure out the pricing yourself.