What qualifies as water damage?

The Difference Between Water Damage and Flood Damage Water damage is usually caused by plumbing, such as a toilet backup, a flooded air conditioning unit, or an overflowing washing machine. Flood damage is usually caused by water that originates from a natural disaster, hurricane, or heavy rain. Category 3 water damage, also known as “sewage damage,” is the most extreme type of water damage and requires rapid action to mitigate serious health risks. Sewage includes wastewater, rising flood water, seawater, as well as river and groundwater.

When Category 3 water damage occurs, many items and materials will need to be removed from your property, and once it has dried, your home will need to undergo significant disinfection. Collapse or subsidence of land along the shore of a lake or similar body of water as a result of erosion or undermining caused by waves or currents of water exceeding anticipated cyclical levels that result in flooding as defined above. When your home suffers water damage as a result of a flood or other natural disaster, it's important to act quickly to clean and restore your property. Flood insurance doesn't cover water damage, and homeowner's insurance doesn't cover flood damage.

Neglect or lack of maintenance that results in water damage means that you are personally involved in the cost of repairs. Keep in mind that water damage from certain types of events, such as tsunamis, floods, sewer accumulations, and pool leaks, is generally not covered. Homeowners insurance doesn't cover mold caused by water damage from other problems, such as lack of maintenance, pool leaks, floods, and earthquakes. Category 2 water: refers to a source of water that contains a significant degree of chemical, biological, or physical contaminants and causes discomfort or illness when consumed or even exposed to.

This means that water damage must be the result of one of the 16 hazards covered by homeowners insurance, such as sudden and accidental tearing, cracking, burning, or bulging of an automatic fire protection system, steam, heating, or air conditioning. The images are especially useful if mold develops in the future, and may support your claim that mold grew as a result of water damage rather than negligence. Although the general root of the two problems is similar, water and flood damage are not the same thing. Even minor cases of water damage can become much more serious if not handled properly.

Damage can be imperceptibly slow and minor, such as water spots that could eventually damage a surface, or it can be instantaneous and catastrophic, such as pipe breaks and flooding. Water damage isn't always covered by your homeowners insurance if it's not the result of an accident or a sudden and unexpected event. You can also choose to hire a contractor to assess water damage and give you an estimate of the cost of your repair. Destruction caused by a flood also usually affects two or more properties, while water damage usually occurs on a single property.