Policies are written to replace damaged materials “in kind”. That means that there would not be an improvement to the construction methods or materials even if it would prevent reoccurrence of the insurance loss.
As an example, imagine that your claim is water damage due to ice dams at the gutters. The actual interior plaster damage would be corrected. The roof and gutter condition that allowed the leak would not be corrected as a part of the claim.
Mold is often the result of winter leak issues. Many homeowner’s insurance policies have exclusions or limits on mold claims. In other instances, the mold is not discovered until the insurance claim repairs are completed.
Most insurance policies that have limitations on mold will still cover mold “consequential to a covered claim”. What that means to the homeowner is that if a leak occurs, the leak should be reported. If those repairs are covered, and mold occurs as a result of the leak, the mold would be covered.
On the other hand, if you have a leak, but do not report it because the repair costs less to fix than the deductible and mold does occur, you will not be covered for the expensive mold cleanup.
What’s Next When Winter Damage Occurs?
The first responsibility you have under your homeowner’s insurance policy is to do everything reasonable to limit the damage. If there is a broken pipe leaking through the wall, turn off the water at the main valve. If water has leaked across a floor, clean the water up. If sewage is backing up from the floor, don’t flush the commode.
Take any needed action to prevent injury to others. If a barrier needs set up, put it in place. If lighting or warning notes need placed, do so.
The loss needs reported as soon as possible. Disaster recovery contractors need access to stabilize conditions and dry out the home to reduce the chance of mold.
Homeowners should document conditions for handling the claim. Take photographs of all conditions and repairs. Document phone conversations. Include times and subjects discussed and arrangements that are made.
The bottom line is that homeowners should do everything possible to avoid winter damage. If you have a winter weather problem, fix the conditions that allowed it to occur.
Adding a combination thermostat and humidistat for areas that can become either too cold or too wet is a great idea. This can be placed in areas like crawl spaces, garages or cold bathrooms. If you purchase one designed to tell you the outside weather remotely, you can place that remote in the area you want to monitor and have the main part of the device in the living space where you can read the temperature and humidity. These generally cost less than $30.00.
When you leave a home for an extended time, turn off the main water valve. If you are leaving in freezing weather, turn off the water at the meter and then open spigots to drain some of the water out of the pipes.
If you are going to be away during freeing weather add a remote thermometer connected to an alarm system. These can call you if the temperature in a home goes below 41 degrees Fahrenheit. For systems like SimpliSafe Security systems, you can purchase the device for $30.00 and add this to the system in less than 30 minutes.
You can call it the “rules of the universe” or “rules of science” but the bottom line is that we can’t escape them. These rules are sometimes more of a harsh reality than others. Winter would be one of those times that they can give us lots of heartache.
Some of these rules of the universe that matter most in winter weather are:
Gutter and Roof Leaks Through Walls: This happens when snow and ice buildup on the roof. When the sun warms a little, snow melts and builds up in the gutter. The warmer house side of the ice dam melts and runs under the ice and into the house walls. One solution to the problem is heat tape in the gutters. The best long term solution starts when installing a new roof. Install a sticky membrane like “Ice and Water Shield” on the roof surface. This is generally a membrane that goes up the roof three feet and keeps the water from leaking through the roof for that distance.
Frozen Pipes: When water freezes, it gets 10% bigger. If it is doing that expansion in a confined area like a pipe or plumbing fixture, it breaks. The best solutions are draining the pipes or adding heat to cold areas. Some tricks include heat tape, opening vanity doors and tub accesses or adding a heater to garages or other areas that have pipes in danger of freezing.
Condensation and Mold at Windows, Attics and Basements: Put a glass of ice water on a table on a hot and humid 4th of July. Condensation will collect on the outside of the glass. If there are ten ice cubes in it instead of three in the glass, there will be more condensation. In the same way, if it is very cold outside, more condensation collects where heated areas meet cold surfaces. This is when mold will grow in attics, closets located on outside walls, crawl spaces and garages. You can dehumidify the entire house to have less moisture available for condensation or add heat to the very cold areas so there is less of a temperature difference.
With winter knocking at the door, trouble is the only thing warming up to come into our homes. Seniors and their caregivers face more winter weather challenges than most people.
If you have never had the experience of being in the shoes of an older person, imagine the time you had a very nasty ( featuring fluids streaming out of your body ) flu bug. Then remember the lack of ability to plan and accomplish your normal activities. That feeling of inability to cope with problems is what can happen to a senior, acutely ill or physically challenged person.
When it feels like life is coming at you like a train out of control, planning goes out the door along with good judgment.
Pride on the other hand .... you know what I mean..... old fashioned, overwhelming stubborn pride........ sticks to us like a leech on the back of our necks sucking out the ability to ask for help, especially when we need help the most .
The combination of financial demands, inability to work through problems and difficulty in asking for help can make winter a serious challenge. Caregivers who understand these facts can make the difference in quality of life and possibly even life and death.
Consider both the physical and financial aspects of dealing with winter. The basic needs include food, water, heat, clothing, sanitation, communication and medical needs. When time, energy or money run out, even the most important need can be ignored.
Help The Person Get Ready for Winter
There are basic chores than need done for winter. Help put away summer items. Get out stored winter clothes. coats, boots, gloves and other cold weather essentials. Tasks that may seem simple, can be daunting to someone aging or in ill health.
Get emergency supplies in place. Taking away the fear of being trapped without the essentials can be tough on a person. Pick a closet to cabinet and gather emergency supplies. Stocking a place with LED flashlights, a backup battery radio, bottled water, food that can be eaten out of the package when utilities are off are the types of things that take the fear out of winter storm entrapment.
If they do not have a cell phone, consider a TracPhone or other emergency phone. It doesn't need to be an expensive phone, but supply a simple phone available if the regular phone system goes down or the person needs to leave a home.
The isolation of winter is one of cold weather's biggest and meanest challenges. Set a time to talk. Anticipating a call can be as exciting as a phone call itself during dreary weather. There are many ways to make these talks interesting and meaningful. Asking about a story or experience from the past can be a great thing for everyone. You may even want to take notes about "the way things were" for a family history.
Talk money. This is a tough one. People do not like to talk about the subject of if there is not enough money for utilities, medicine and food. They may be embarrassed, or too confused to apply for programs that can help with expenses like LIHEAP for heating assistance. A few hours of effort sorting out these issues could take a lot of stress from a person you care about.
Find out about essential medicines and put in place a plan that makes sure there is always a sufficient supply of these on hand. Whether the difficulty is delivery or payment, there are programs and options that are available. Making those arrangements could take some time, but will be worth the effort.
Send a "thinking of you” basket when a storm or other event is coming. That provides a supply of food, but more importantly lets people know that you care. It can relieve the stress of not rushing to the store before the storm.
Do not forget the pet. This is one of the most important things in many homes. Food, water and a place to go if evacuating the home is very important.