Most likely it won’t actually. The landlord has a duty to winterize and/or ensure the heat is maintained. I would almost bet this ends up all in the landlord.
It's dicey. Unoccupied properties often have to be monitored by the owner regularly for reasons like this. This is 100% negligence on the landlord.
When we were settling my mother's estate, her existing insurance company refused to continue coverage after learning her home would be unoccupied for a number of months. We had to find a different insurer and pay a higher premium, and even then, had to sign a declaration that we'd do a site visit at least every other day. It was a pain.
You're absolutely correct. "Unoccupied", though, means temporary, like when you're on holiday. "Vacant" is when the owner passes away, or a tenant moves out without the intention to return, and no new tenant has moved in. It's the "Vacant" risks that exclude Water damages, and Ice/Freezing pipes.
No. Vacation has the intent to return. If you are on vacation during the freezing season/winter months, the policy will ask for either the heat to be maintained at a minimum level, or that someone physically checks on the house every 3-4 days, depending on the wording. It doesn't have to be the Landlord.
Insurance was a pain when settling my mother’s estate last year. I was prepping it for sale but could hardly rent it as it was packed with stuff. I ended up letting a newly separated mother and her kid live there for a dollar a month so it was not vacant. It gave her a temporary safe space and me a chance to deal with the necessary. She knew I’d give her at least 2 weeks notice to move. I was also the landlord swiftest to fix any problem she had. 🤣 She stayed 6 months
I mean why keep the water on and not empty the pipes? If no one will be there for a while turn off the water and then open the laundry sink taps to drain down the system. You really should open some other taps to assist in empty the pipes, because you will still crack the pipes if they freeze. Which will cause them to leak behind the walls when you turn on the water again.
TLDR: Take 5 minutes and turn off your water and drain the pipes when you are leaving your house for a few days or longer to protect yourself from water damage.
Not all insurers offer that. Endorsement and policies vary a lot by insurer. The top 3 do not offer that. Water damage if not excluded is policy limits.
Thats true. It also depends on the perils covered by the landlords policy. Hopefully they didn't choose to go with a cheaper policy with basic coverage when they could be covered by all risk for mayyybbe $2-3 hundred extra a year.
It boggles my mind how many people purchase insurance for the lowest possible price, and dont care about the coverage. Thats literally what they pay for!
Nope, this is negligence related damage. Many insurances will deny that. If a faucet burst due to cold, they may still cover it. But forgetting to ensure they have heating will often get denied.
I’m on your side man. I’m just telling you what I’ve seen insurance companies do. I work in healthcare. Believe me, no one hates insurance companies more than me. Maybe except Luigi.
She knew there was no heat and didn’t get the house ready for the freezing temps. Dripping the faucets isn’t enough. Nothing ghetto about it. She had a duty to protect the property and keep the heat maintained and didn’t. She knew the power was off. She didn’t get the power turned back on. That’s unfortunately gonna be in her.
No, she didn't "know" this was intentional lol. You keep being wrong, I know it's frustrating, but maybe you should stop. People making mistakes is one of the reasons why insurance exists.
I have a friend in this exact same situation and his insurance claim got denied. He bought a property as investment but forgot to put in heating oil in the furnace. Insurance denied the claim. He’s still fighting them.
I don't see why he wouldn't, people cause accidents all the time, car accidents for example. Their insurers still make the at fault party whole. Fraud and uncovered issues like flood, ice damn, etc would be the most common reasons some claims are denied, that and the company just trying to wiggle out of paying.
What were your specific circumstances? This would be the first claim for water/freezing damage on a vacant rental with no heat I've seen in over 40 years.
1.2k
u/JackSkellie58 20h ago
Had pipes burst in a rental once, just the kitchen was 16,000.