As soon as a plumbing disaster strikes, it’s essential that you contact your insurance provider immediately so they can send out an adjuster and assess the damages.
However, insurance companies tend to avoid covering bathtub leaks as they believe homeowners should maintain their properties appropriately.
Damage to the Bathtub
Homeowners insurance offers financial protection against damage done to your house by perils such as fire and theft; however, certain incidents won’t be covered – for instance a bathtub that cracks from wear-and-tear or lack of maintenance is unlikely to be replaced under its terms.
Your insurance may cover damage to your tub if it was sudden and caused by one of the perils listed on your policy, such as an earthquake, windstorm or fire. Your insurer won’t cover gradual cracking as they’d assume you knew about it but had yet to take necessary actions against it.
If you’re renting your property, renters insurance may provide protection from damaged bath mat and ceiling if it was caused by one of several covered parties. In such an instance, it could be either your landlord or tenant responsible, as well as anyone working on the property who accidentally caused damage – for instance a plumber could be held accountable if they installed subpar plumbing equipment or used tools improperly causing harm to the bathtub.
You could file a claim if, for instance, your upstairs neighbors leave their bathtub running, allowing water to leak through the ceiling and into your floor and bath mat below it. Your homeowners or renters insurance may cover such accidental damage; however, be mindful that their insurer will likely evaluate your actions after damage has been sustained in order to approve or reject future claims.
Damage to the Walls
Whenever an insured party, such as your neighbor or contractor, causes damage to your walls, filing an insurance claim should be possible. Your insurer will hire a party wall surveyor to review the damage and issue an award that may include compensation payments to both of you for damages sustained.
Problem is, these types of situations rarely play out smoothly. Most insurers’ policies contain language stating they will only pay out damages caused by sudden and unforeseen events – it would be much harder for them to cover a case in which a homeowner ignored maintenance needs over time which gradually worsened until it damaged their home permanently.
Imagine this: your upstairs neighbors leave their bathtub running too long, resulting in water flooding into their ceiling and seeping into your bathroom, damaging walls, ceiling, and belongings – while leaving their renters or homeowners insurance policy fully paid up – covering any costs related to damages sustained to walls, ceiling, or other belongings in both spaces (assuming both were covered by their policy). Your policy would cover these damages (assuming both were fully insured).
Most policies provide replacement cost coverage, which means your insurer will cover the costs associated with replacing items of like kind and quality with similar materials. So plaster walls would be replaced by brand new plaster walls while carpet flooring might be swapped out with similar flooring materials. Please check your policy to confirm it contains this feature before signing.
Damage to the Floor
Flooring replacement costs can be significant. If a cracked bathtub causes water damage to your floor, homeowners insurance often covers these costs to repair or replace it.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that the original cause of water damage may not be covered by homeowners insurance; typically only perils listed in their policy can provide coverage; so if a flood or earthquake causes cracks to form in a building’s foundation for instance then coverage might not exist.
As with the cause of any crack, its source will also play a significant role in whether coverage exists for floor damage. If it forms due to regular wear and tear or lack of maintenance, coverage is unlikely. Insurance companies expect policyholders will take measures to maintain their homes and appliances regularly – they will only cover damage that suddenly and unexpectedly occurs.
Similar rules apply for leaks that develop gradually; if you ignore a small leak and let it slowly damage your flooring over months or years, your insurer is unlikely to cover the costs to repair or replace it due to negligence causing its initial source.
As another example, consider a sewer back-up or burst pipe, both of which may be covered by your homeowners policy provided you have endorsements such as sewer backup or water loss protection in place. However, heavy winds damage to the roof allowing rain into your living room through broken windows would likely not be covered by insurance.
Understanding what kinds of damage your homeowners insurance covers is not always simple. If you need any clarification or have concerns regarding your policy, Greenberg Stone & Urbano’s attorneys, investigators and estimators are on hand to meet with you and inspect the property before making recommendations as to whether or not a claim should be covered by insurance.
Damage to the Cabinets
Homeowners insurance provides financial protection when your home is damaged by covered perils. But exactly which damages does your policy cover? This is often difficult to ascertain because every policy can differ. A standard home insurance policy typically contains an overview of its provisions as well as which parts of the house are insured against specific types of damage.
Your home insurance will likely cover damage to your cabinets if they’re destroyed in a fire or flood for which you have the appropriate water loss coverage, but won’t if they come tumbling off due to water backing up from a failed sump pump or sewer backup, which would be considered maintenance issues that should have been addressed instead of perils covered under your policy.
Understanding the difference between something considered maintenance issues and catastrophes covered by your home insurance can make assessing whether or not your claim will be approved easier. With proper information at hand, this process should become simpler.
What ultimately determines whether your home insurance will cover damage from a cracked bathtub is whether its destruction was sudden and accidental. Your homeowners insurance may cover damage to cabinets and other items in your home caused by sudden leakage of overflow caused by something unrelated to negligence or poor maintenance on your part.
However, if your bathtub leaks due to neglect and then worsens over time, insurance will likely not cover it as they expect you to maintain the property properly and that a good maintenance regime would keep it in good condition without needing repairs.