Claim denied after deep freeze Shayla McAnly asked 2 years ago
Claim denied after deep freeze

We recently purchased a home out of state and planned to move after the holidays. Since we closed a month before we planned to move in, our realtor turned off our water. The week we moved in there was a historic deep freeze that burst our pipes and caused damage to all three floors, HVAC, furnace and drywall.

Insurance denied the claim since we had not yet activated utilities arguing that we were negligent to not maintain heat in the home.

Should we appeal?

1 Answers
Jade Bentz Jade Bentz Expert answered 2 years ago
0 Vote Up Vote Down

Hi Shayla,

The majority of insurance policies are very cut and dry on this subject, unfortunately. If heat was not maintained (with reasonable care) in the home, or the water was not shut off AND pipes winterized – and there is a freeze loss, there is no coverage for the water damage. Since some of the facts are a little unclear in your question, here are two different answers, depending on your circumstances:

  1. If the water was turned off, but the heat was maintained, even if it was set to something like 50 then you should appeal the decision and provide utility bills showing you had heat.
  2. If the water was turned off, but the pipes not winterized, and there was no heat on in the home I’m afraid the coverage decision is likely valid and you will probably not get any results from an appeal.

Sorry not to have better news.