DIYbanter - View Single Post - Water leak/damage from upstairs laundry advice

In article . com,
says...

liability aside homeowners should cover the costs, and then its up to
them to recover costs from whoever might be responsible.
.....
this is a very common problem and costly for insurance which
ultimately raises everyones rates

It used to be that this was almost always covered by better homeowners
insurance packages. But, as you noted, it's become a very expensive
problem. Rather than keep raising rates for everyone, more and more
insurance policies exclude some or all of this sort of damage.

You could find that the pipe itself is not covered, and if tearing open
the wall reveals that this is an ongoing leak you just discovered, the
water damage from the leak may also be limited or excluded. Mold,
fungus, or rot resulting from the leak may also be limited or excluded.

Read your policy and talk to your agent before you decide to file a
claim for this sort of damage.

For an upstairs laundry, I strongly recommend a pan under the machine,
preferably one that drains to the outside, with a discharge that's
visible to the neighbors. I also would suggest an automatic shutoff
valve set for the hoses. (The valve controller senses current flow to
the machine and opens the valves, then closes them when power flow
stops. Like turning off the hoses between each use, but automatic so
you won't forget.)

--
is Joshua Putnam
http://www.phred.org/~josh/
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