Vital Things You Need to Know if Your Pipes Burst Due to Freezing
Were you in Houston, Texas, or anywhere in the state of Texas during the recent deep freeze disaster?
On February 11, 2021, at the start of another year with the world under the clutches of the pandemic, Texas was hit by a severe deep freeze. Power turbines froze, causing power outages over the state and damages to residences, including occurrences of pipe burst in Houston, Texas, and other areas.
The deep freeze severely affected places like Atascocita, Spring, The Woodlands, Aldine, Sheldon, Klein, Cypress, Montgomery, Magnolia, Pasadena, Jersey Village, Cinco Ranch, Pasadena, Pearland, and many others.
The calamity left millions to freeze, and tragically over 69 people died during this historic cold blast. People suffered from a water crisis due to busted pipes, shattered grocery stores, and almost no essential services for weeks.
According to ABC News on February 20, 2021, “1,300 Texas public water systems and 159 counties had reported weather-related operational disruptions affecting more than 14.9 million people.”
If you are from Houston or any part of Texas affected by the deep freeze and are suffering from a busted pipe caused by freezing, you need to fix it as soon as possible. There are things that you can do to salvage your residence from such an unfortunate situation. Learn what you should do to restore your home, and can get the insurance claim proceeds you need if you suffered a pipe burst in Houston, Texas.
In this article, we will discuss how you can return to normal life, restore your home or business and prevent insurance denials in the future.
Here Are 7 Insurance Claim Tips for You to Recover from a Pipe Burst in Houston, Texas.
- Homeowners Insurance Policies Normally Cover Pipe Burst Claims in Houston, Texas.
- You Can Definitely Claim Insurance Money for Pipe Burst in Houston, Texas, Caused by the February 2021 Deep Freeze if Covered in Your Insurance Policy - be careful of insurance companies telling you that you are not covered - get an expert opinion!
- Hiring an Insurance Policyholder Lawyer Will Help You Claim Your Homeowner's Insurance Proceeds.
- Acting Fast is Crucial to Your Situation.
- Being Prepared and Resilient is Now Your New Path. Pictures and Diary’s Make a Huge Difference - do both.
- Practical Preventions Can Help You Strengthen Your Pipe Burst Insurance Claim.
- Deep Freeze is Not the Only Extreme Weather to Prepare for in Texas.
TIP No. 1: Homeowners Insurance Covers Pipe Burst in Houston, Texas.
Insurers usually explicitly cover damage that is resulted from burst or ruptured pipes.
Water damage is generally a covered condition if it was caused by the pipe burst; seepage or a sink backup will only be covered if there are add ons to the policy.
The general rule is that homeowners insurance covers damage due to broken pipes if they are sudden and unforeseen and are above control of standard maintenance.
Gradual damage like that due to a leak or rust, usually a result of lack of maintenance, is generally not covered.
For pipe bursts in Houston, Texas due to freezing, there should be insurance coverage, but under a few conditions. You will have to show that you have been maintaining the pipes well, but the freezing still busted them.
TIP No. 2: You Can Definitely Claim Insurance Money for Pipe Burst in Houston, Texas, Caused by the February 2021 Deep Freeze.
For your situation, the sudden, unforeseen pipe burst in Houston, Texas, and other areas in the state occurring in the February 2021 winter storm Uri, should entitle you to coverage and payment.
Insurers do not cover damage to water pipes resulting from unsudden plumbing freezes if the claimant fails to take reasonable steps. For example, the claimant should make evident that he/she tried to maintain the heat or turned off the water to prevent a worse situation.
Now, since what happened to you and the entire Texan community was unforeseen, you are entitled to claim insurance, but with one challenge ahead.
The issue is that you are not the only one experiencing this kind of damage. Thousands of households have suffered a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, and other areas in the state.
The massive number of insurance claims happening pushes insurance companies to place strict protocols to minimize the money they are putting out.
Remember that the business model of an insurance company is to take people's money and hope only a few people will need the promised returns back.
While this seems problematic, there is still a way that you can get the insurance claim proceeds you need to restore your house and fix your pipe burst in Houston, Texas. The Voss Law Firm, P.C. in Houston, Texas is here to help!
Additional Reading: Here are SIX STEPS on how to handle your pipe burst insurance claim.
TIP No. 3: Hiring an Insurance Policyholder Lawyer Will Help You Claim Your Homeowner's Insurance.
With an expert insurance litigation lawyer on your side, you have someone to help you who knows how insurance companies work. We know what tactics and misleading clauses and protocols they are putting in place to try to delay or deny your claim for a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, or wherever you are in the state.
We will review your paperwork and evidence, assess your situation and analyze how we can effectively beat the insurance company's delaying tactics. Soon, you will recover your life and home and come back to living better than ever.
TIP No. 4: Acting Fast is Crucial to Your Situation.
You are not the only one looking out to claim your insurance payout for a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, or other areas in the state. Hundreds of lawsuits are happening right now and will continue for months.
Being the last in line will delay your efforts to restore to normal life.
Texas insurance companies have been jam-packed with claims since the deep freeze incident caused by winter storm Uri. There are people claiming car damage, roof destruction, medical insurance, and other payouts.
Not only residents, but companies, are also claiming insurance for damages like yours, a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, or wherever you are in the state.
Being the last in line will delay your efforts to restore to normal life.
Like most people in Texas today, you will face challenges coming back your way to normalcy, and you will need all the money and help you can get.
Contact a lawyer now and get back to normal life as soon as possible.
You can ask for help at (281) 549-8911 or 1-281-549-8911(Toll-Free).
TIP No. 5: Being Prepared and Resilient is Now Your New Path.
While the freeze event has been unfortunate, scary, and frustrating, you should have learned a few vital things from the situation you were in.
It was devastating - a pipe burst in Houston, Texas causing a lack of water and other damages, a blackout in freezing weather, no heat, no water, no hope. With the proper preparation, Texans should've been able to find a way to get immediate relief, help, and survival with the right tools and skills.
For the next time that an unfortunate event like this might happen, it would be best if you are disaster-prepared. Skills that can be crucially and urgently useful for such an event include first aid, making fire, processing drinking water, and others.
The most vital thing is that you should be able to prepare yourself and your home for a deep freeze or other calamities. Who knows when this might happen again? Best to prepare now.
Have a go-pack, medkit, spare batteries, electricity generator, transistor radio, bottled water storage, canned goods, packed noodles, powdered food, extra medication (general and prescription), and other essential logistics.
Be disaster-ready so you can become resilient and will have a better chance at recovery when unfortunate events happen.
One of the most crucial acts you can do is be prepared with the right insurance policy for a pipe burst due to freezing.
The best thing you can do is get the advice of an insurance litigation lawyer to review your contracts and perfect them for your advantage before finalizing a decision.
Remember that when it comes to insurance claims, prevention is still better than cure. You have to know what you agree on and make sure you will get what you deserve in the end.
With legal backup to help you from the start, you can trust that you will have no additional bumps when unfortunate events occur.
Click the link above to contact us or visit The Voss Law Firm, P.C. at 26619 Interstate 45 South, The Woodlands, TX 77380.
TIP No. 6: Practical Interventions Can Help You Strengthen Your Pipe Burst Insurance Claim.
When having your pipes fixed after a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, or elsewhere in the state, use more damage-resistant material like CPVC instead of easily breakable copper-based ones.
Also, make sure that you get a reliable plumber and be hands-on with the job. Learn as much as you can about maintaining your pipes, and do not skimp on ensuring you are getting quality work done.
One trick that an insurance company can use to deny your insurance claim for a burst pipe due to freezing is to conclude that you did not do standard procedures that could have been done to prevent damages. They will literally blame it on you.
However, if you do your part and regularly maintain your pipes, you can claim money for damages out of your control for all reasonable situations.
Showing that you maintain your pipes will fortify your case in getting insurance claims for sudden breakage like the ones due to the February 2021 deep freeze in Texas.
TIP No. 7: Deep Freeze is Not the Only Extreme Weather to Prepare for in Texas.
A pipe burst in Houston, Texas, and other areas in the state is not the only threat you might be facing.
Texas is ranked NO.1 in the US when it comes to the diversity and occurrence of natural disasters. The state is struck by floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, hail, sinkholes, drought, and erosion.
At times, the use of the state's reserves of gas, oil, and water leads to subsidence or earthquakes.
These disasters can cause plenty of residential damages, and you have to protect your home and family. You have to build your house in light of protection from these threats and ensure that your insurance policies are in place.
Read more about insurance claims in different situations here:
Claim For Pipe Burst in Houston Texas Today, and Recover from the Deep Freeze.
If you have residential insurance and are looking to claim it to restore a pipe burst in Houston, Texas, or wherever you are in the state, you will need legal assistance to ensure that your insurance company is not acting in bad faith.
Insurance companies tend to delay, deny, or underpay, especially when a surge of policyholders come to get money from them.
Get a free initial assessment today.
