Fairfax homeowners expect their insurance to cover any disaster that their home might throw their way, but the harsh reality is that insurance only covers the very basics. When it comes to household inconveniences, there are three issues that most home insurance policies don’t cover.

How To Avoid These Disasters!

Mold, flooding, and sewer backups are common occurrences that can slip under the insurance radar. Don’t get stuck holding the bag for these issues; take preventative steps to keep your Fairfax home healthy and safe.

1. Mold

Mold can creep into your home in the most unexpected places, like your attic. If your attic isn’t up to date on its ventilation system, it could be trapping moisture in the walls, causing mold to grow, which is extremely unhealthy, and damaging to the attic and the roofing itself. As we approach the seasons of high humidity in Fairfax, you can bet that moisture will be accumulating in your attic at a high rate. If you’ve got a case of mold in your home, don’t expect your insurance company to pay for this problem. Individual companies handle these situations differently. Some insurers will cover a portion of the costs, while others don’t cover mold at all in their policies. Make sure you know what’s being covered and prevent mold by keeping your attic ventilated during seasons of high humidity.

2. Flooding

When it comes to flooding, insurance policies are just full of fine print about what they do and don’t cover. No matter what the reason may be for flooding, don’t expect your home insurance to cover the damages unless you have purchased a separate flood policy. If your sump pump breaks, you could be in for a flooding disaster! Only 15% of the country has flood insurance on their policies, which means that there’s a good chance that your home isn’t covered. If this is the case, Fairfax homeowners need to take preventative measures to ensure that their homes are protected from pipes bursting, faulty water heaters, sump pump failure, or any other kind of plumbing-related flooding.

3. Sewer Backups

The most dreaded of home disasters is anything involving the sewage system! We know there’s a possibility that our sewer could back up, but we try to avoid that thought at all costs. As long as it’s behaving itself now, it’s easy to disregard the fact that there could be a problem lurking in your sewage pipes, ready to explode and make your life that much more stressful! Insurance policies are vague about how much they actually cover regarding sewage, and since their home policies in Fairfax aren’t reliable when it comes to sewer backups, it’s smart to have a professional plumber come out to your home and make sure your sewer system and pipes are in working order so that you don’t get stuck with an unexpected bill!

Preventing mold, flooding, and sewer backup issues before they become problems in your home will protect you from the surprise of finding that your insurance policy doesn’t cover what you thought. Make sure that you take a good look at your coverage to find out exactly what you’re getting. If you discover that it doesn’t cover what you thought it would, it’s time to have F.H. Furr’s trusted technicians come out and perform annual maintenance on your plumbing and HVAC system. Let us make sure you never have to deal with a disaster that your insurance doesn’t cover!