With the cold weather the US has been experiencing over the past two weeks, there are bound to be thousands of pipes freezing which will undouboutly lead to many insurance claims.

As someone that has been an insurance adjuster on many of these types of claims, I thought it might be a good time to talk about this subject.

The sad thing is that many of these frozen pipes could have been prevented.  Anytime you have an unheated or vacant building, the water should be shut off at the main disconnect.  You should never have the water on in a vacant building no matter what the temperature is.  Just turn it off at at the main shut off valve and save yourself thousands of dollars.

Having the water on in an unheated building during a freeze will be considered negligance, by you, according to your insurance carrier and there is a good chance your claim will be denied because you did not take the proper precaution of turning the water off to the building.  Don't be that guy!  I do not like telling policyholders that they aren't going to get paid for their frozen pipe water loss.

Water damage is one of the most common claims in the residential property insurance area.  It can also be a very costly claim.  

In parts of the country, water supply lines are run in the (unheated) attic.  The freeze comes.  The pipes get frozen.  They burst while frozen.  As they thaw out, hundreds or thousands of gallons of water come out and damage everything below the burst pipe including ceilings, walls, floors, appliances and furnishings.  

Even if you are home and catch the leak quickly you are still looking at thousands of dollars in damages.  

Know where your main water shut off is and be ready to shut the water off quickly.  If you don't remember to shut it off before the pipe is frozen, you can still shut it off while the pipe is frozen and help mitigate the damage.  After you shut it off at the main cutoff, turn on the water at a lower level sink so when the pipes do thaw out, water that is already in the pipe will run into the sink and not all over your floor.

The water must be removed quickly as possible to prevent further damage or organic growth (mold and mildew) from forming.  You will need to call a reliable and trusted mitigation company that day to begin the process.  Get the name and contact information from your insurance agent or claims department or a trusted friend or realtor.  Just like anything else there are good mitigation companies and bad mitigation companies. 

Do not let the mitigation company just start ripping out everything.  For most residential claims, the initial cost for mitigation should not exceed $3500 unless your insurance carrier has authorized a higher amount (in writing via e-mail) prior to additional work being done. 

Several years ago it was not uncommon for an unscrupulous mitigation company to come in and rip all of your walls and kitchen cabinets out claiming that your insurance company required you to mitigate.   They then would bill the insurance company $100,000 or more for tearing your house up.  Then the insurance adjuster shows up and he can't tell how or what was damaged.  If he can't see the damage, he can't pay you for the damage.  The other problem is that if the unscrupulous mitigation company just used up $100,000 of your policy.  If you have a $250,000 policy with $250,000 dollars in damage, he just took $100,000 of your money and now you have to put your house back together with just $150,000.  I have seen this happen on several occasions.  

If you happen to be building a new home, I would highly recommend that you do not place any water supply lines in the attic or in the outside walls.