Does homeowners insurance cover burst pipes?
A sudden pipe burst and the water damage it causes are usually covered, but damage from a pipe that's been slowly leaking, or that froze because the home wasn't properly heated, typically is not.
What flips the answer
- Covered when
The pipe bursts suddenly with no history of a prior slow leak.
- Not covered when
The home was left unheated or vacant without proper precautions and the pipe froze and burst as a result.
- Not covered when
The pipe had been slowly leaking for an extended period before the damage was discovered.
Standard HO-3 policies name sudden and accidental discharge or overflow of water from plumbing as a covered peril. If a pipe bursts without warning, most policies pay to repair both the resulting water damage and, in many cases, the cost of accessing and repairing the pipe itself.
Freezing pipes are a common carve-out. Coverage generally requires that reasonable steps were taken to prevent freezing — keeping the heat on, or shutting off and draining the system if the home is vacant. A frozen, burst pipe in a home left unheated over winter can be denied on the theory the loss was preventable.
Damage from a pipe that's been leaking gradually — as opposed to bursting suddenly — falls under the same wear-and-tear exclusion that applies to any slow leak.
The water damage itself is covered even though ordinary pipe replacement due to age or corrosion is not; insurers draw the line at the suddenness of the failure.
That's the general answer. Yours is written in your actual policy.
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