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You’ve never filed a claim like this. We have, hundreds of times. Here’s the whole thing, what’s covered, what isn’t, and how the process actually runs.
Every claim is different
Every loss is unique, and what your policy actually pays depends on three things: your specific coverage, how quickly the damage is reported and mitigated, and the documentation package your insurer receives. Treat this guide as education, not a coverage promise. We help homeowners get all three right, starting with the first call.
This is not legal or financial advice. Every situation is different, with variables that are impossible to know without speaking with your insurance provider, assessing the damage in person, and reviewing your specific policy. Nothing on this page, or any page, replaces those three steps.
Every homeowner in the country negotiates their own insurance. Some carry mold coverage, some don’t. Some have sewer-backup riders, pest exclusions, higher deductibles, older valuations. There is no blanket statement about water damage coverage that survives contact with two different policies, so before you take any page’s word for anything, know the six things that actually decide your claim:
Coverage is a menu, not a standard. Mold caps, sewer-backup riders, sump endorsements, pest exclusions: two neighbors rarely carry the same contract.
A $1,000 versus $5,000 deductible, and ACV versus RCV valuation, change what a claim pays, and whether it’s worth filing at all.
Prompt notice and immediate mitigation are policy duties. Delay shrinks coverage on otherwise covered losses.
Sudden failure, gradual leak, ground water, backup: the cause determines the coverage, and cause is established in person, not by guess.
The claim pays from the file: photos, moisture logs, cause evidence, drying records. Thin files get thin checks.
Carriers read the same loss differently, and the five variables above decide how much room they have to.
This is why we never blanket-statement coverage. The first step on any claim question is your declarations page and your agent, not a website, including this one. What we can promise: the mitigation, documentation, and speed sides of the equation are ours, and we get them right.
Usually, when the damage is sudden and accidental. That phrase is the hinge the whole claim swings on. A pipe that burst this morning, a water heater that split, a washing machine hose that let go: covered by most standard policies. Damage that accumulated, the fitting that seeped for months, the grout that leaked every shower for a year: generally excluded as “gradual damage” or deferred maintenance.
Two riders worth checking your declarations page for today: water/sewer backup and sump-pump overflow. They’re cheap, and in this valley’s geology, they earn their premium.
Four buckets: mitigation (extraction, drying, demolition needed to stop damage), repairs (rebuilding what was removed or ruined), contents (belongings, per your personal-property coverage), and sometimes additional living expenses if the home is uninhabitable. You pay your deductible once against the total, which is why our goal on covered claims is that the deductible is your only out-of-pocket cost.
Mid-claim and confused? Get a free file review
No pressure, no truck rolled, just an honest read on your situation.
Stop the damage
Shut off the water, kill power to wet zones. Your policy requires you to prevent further damage, acting fast is a duty, not just a good idea.
Document before cleanup
Photos and video of the water, the source, and everything it touched. Wide shots and close-ups. Do this before anything moves.
Call mitigation, then your insurer
Both within the first hours. Mitigation (that’s us) starts the drying clock; the insurer opens the claim and assigns an adjuster.
Adjuster assessment
The adjuster inspects, or reviews our documentation. Moisture maps, daily readings, and cause photos do the arguing for you.
Scope agreement
Repair scope gets written in Xactimate. We reconcile ours with the adjuster’s line by line so nothing gets quietly dropped.
Payment & closeout
Insurer pays (minus deductible), often in stages: mitigation, repairs, contents. Direct billing means we chase the paperwork, not you.
One more honest note: filing isn’t always the right move. Small losses near your deductible can cost more in future premiums than they return. We’ll price the job cash both ways so you can decide with real numbers, more on that in the cost guide.
Talk to a real person, free
No pressure, no truck rolled, just an honest read on your situation.
Five-minute callback, honest advice, zero obligation. That’s the whole pitch.
Keep your phone nearby. If water is still spreading, shut off the main valve now, it’s usually in the basement or crawl space, on the street-facing wall.