What’s In This Articles

• Water Damage from Burst Pipes
• What Happens When a Pipe Bursts in Your House?
• What Should Homeowners Do When They Find Burst Water Pipes?
• Remove any standing water
• Inventory your damage from the burst pipes
• File a claim with your homeowners’ insurance company
• Steps to Prevent Burst Pipe Damage Again
• If You Need a Public Adjuster for a Burst Pipe Damage Claim, Call AllCity Adjusting
• We Handle Burst Pipe Water Damage Claims

Water Damage from Burst Pipes

There are few more upsetting sites for a homeowner than to walk into their house and see water cascading from a ceiling. Or going to the basement and seeing a couple of inches of standing water. For instance, water damage from burst pipes can happen in vacation homes in the winter. As another example, pipes in exterior walls can burst if a home loses power for a few days. Likewise, exposed pipes in the basement can burst.
However, the good news is that homeowners’ insurance covers damage from burst pipes.

What Happens When a Pipe Bursts in Your House?

When ice forms inside pipes, the ice causes water pressure to build. Then, when frozen pipes burst, water escapes from the pipe into the immediate area. However, the problem is that the homeowner may not be aware of the burst pipe. For example, what if the water leak occurs in a ski house the homeowner visits every other week in the winter?
Similarly, an exposed pipe in the basement can burst in the middle of the night. How will the homeowner sleeping on the second floor know?
In that instance, the homeowner won’t realize there is a water leak in the basement until she goes down there to do laundry, retrieve food from a freezer, etc.

What Should Homeowners Do When They Find Burst Water Pipes?

First, once you have discovered you have a water leak, turn off the water supply at the water shutoff valve.
If a hot water pipe bursts, close the valve on top of the hot water heater.
You will then have to call a plumber to repair or replace the burst pipe.
Then there are several other steps you should take:

Remove any standing water

The longer the water remains, the more damage it can do. Therefore, remove any standing water with a wet dry vacuum. Additionally, put any furniture touched by water in a dry, warm area of your home. You may have to dispose of carpeting, depending on how much and how long water remained in the area.
In fact, you may need a professional water mitigation company to come in with blowers and dehumidifiers. Where there is water, there could later be mold. Make sure the area affected by the water leak is completely disinfected and dry to prevent mold.

Inventory your damage from the burst pipes

Make a list of the damage to your home, like cracked or water-logged ceilings and walls. In addition, itemize all personal property, such as furniture, carpeting, clothes, etc., that were damaged.
Indeed, take pictures of all damaged property to submit with your claim.
If there was standing water, there is probably some type of stain on your molding or wall. Therefore, take a picture of that water line.
Try not to throw out any damaged property until the adjuster from the insurance company comes to inspect your pipe damage. However, if you have to throw items out, make sure you take several pictures to share with the adjuster.

File a claim with your homeowners’ insurance company

Call your insurance company as soon as you can to file a claim. Alternatively, most companies have 24/7 phone lines you can use to report the damage from the frozen pipes. In fact, the sooner you report the burst pipes, the sooner the claims process can begin.
That means the sooner an adjuster from the insurance company can come to your house to inspect the damage. Consequently, if you need a professional water mitigation company, the adjuster can write you a check on the spot to cover the cost of the water mitigation job.

Steps to Prevent Burst Pipe Damage Again

Once you have cleaned your house and repaired the burst pipe (which homeowners’ insurance does not cover), you might want to take the time to prevent pipes from freezing in the future.
For instance, if there are exposed pipes in crawl spaces, the attic or the basement, you may want to wrap insulation around them.
If you have a vacation home you don’t go to regularly, drain the water pipes. Then let the faucets drip water, so that water doesn’t build up in the pipes and freeze in your absence.
Additionally, you may have pipes, or at least faucets, for garden hoses outside the house. Therefore, shut off the valve for those pipes or faucets inside the house during the winter. Also, open the valves so the faucet drains out.

If You Need a Public Adjuster for a Burst Pipe Damage Claim, Call AllCity Adjusting

We are a family-owned claims company with five decades of combined adjusting experience. As a result, if there’s one thing we understand, it’s that you need 100% of your claim value.
Insurance companies undervalue your claim 8 out of 10 times. Moreover, they hire expensive adjusters to ensure they maintain a strong profit margin. Additionally, they have experienced actuaries that create insurance agency guidelines that help their team of agents challenge your insurance claim’s validity.

We Handle Burst Pipe Water Damage Claims

At AllCity Adjusting we work to ensure you get 100% of the claim value of your water damage from burst pipes. Equally important, with over 50 years of combined adjusting experience, we know insurance companies and understand where they cut corners when processing insurance claims. Moreover, we help you build a larger claim, maximize your claim value, and get you back to normal fast. Don’t get fooled, get the company that gets you more.