What Adjusters Need to Know about Summer Home Insurance Claims

Right about now…

Like you, people are moving outside and getting closer to setting up their outdoor living area.

Where can the damage happen? The weather is perfect right…What could go wrong? Adjusters need to know it happens before the summer.

That’s right. Snow is the culprit. Here’s how…

Snow is the Culprit. 

Snow generally creates conditions to outdoor structures like swimming pools, that can cause substantial damage.

• Yes, the weight of the snow itself on top of the covers.
• Yes, it can happen ice can affect pools which can be a challenging coverage issue, but it can be related to covered damage.
• Yes, it’s very possible when you undo your outdoor backyard, you uncover things you may find that the snow had caused damage.

“What a sin!” they say when the swimming pool got damaged.

Know this now… above-ground pools are highly susceptible as well as in-ground pools, but above-ground pools tend to be damaged more easily, the wind often can create lots of things that ultimately will damage the pool and if you’re not aware of the things that may have damaged the pool, you may not be looking at it as a covered claim.

In-ground vs Above Ground

A lot of times you’re going to have:

• branches that break through the pool cover
• patio furniture that blows in the pool

Now ground or in-ground pools are both susceptible to the same, the difference is when the cover gets broken it may trigger additional damage, it may trigger a pump to start running, and it may:

• break a liner when patio furniture goes into a structure like a pool
• the glass may be contaminating that pool
• those chair legs or that glass may damage a liner

But there are complicated issues between the two.  Often they will create ensuing damage that should be covered under the policy.

Is that helpful? Here’s more…

Damage and Debris

So, tree branches going through a pool cover, tree branches that land on a pool surface, the sidewalls, the coping, and windblown debris in a pool tend to be a big issue throughout the winter, collapse from the weight of snow now granted, the weight of ice and snow will generally exclude the collapse of a pool ironically collapse due to weight of snow is covered, it’s when they’re combined.

Here’s what you need to know… will it be covered?

Will My Damage Be Covered?

Now, some policies even exclude that, but most do cover collapses from the weight of snow and the northeast carter, the Midwest all had substantial snow this winter, so it’s very possible when you go outside and there is damage from that weight of snow, it is specific in the policy that most policies that can’t be weighed of ice and snow can only be the weight of snow.

Shattered glass in a pool can ruin the liner, it can contaminate the pool can ruin a filter can be relatively expensive to fully clean out.

So, you must be cautious most of that glass is tempered, which can again be a little bit complicated and can get stuck in the filtration systems and the lines. So, pool liners and covers can be four, five, or ten thousand dollars, but it all certainly happens.

So, oh no!

It might be snow, please look carefully and understand that the winter perils may affect your swimming pools.