The cost of labor and materials to repair a broken pipe often is not covered by insurance. (Shutterstock)
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Question: One of the exclusions under the peril 'accidental sudden discharge or overflow of water or steam' is loss to the system or appliance from which the water or steam escapes.
Does this mean that the cost of labor and materials to replace the specific broken pipe that caused the water leakage will not be covered, but the cost of tearing out and repairing that part of the building to get to this pipe will be, in addition to other losses to the building and other items of insured property?
— Guam Subscriber
Answer: You are correct; coverage is for tear out and replacement of part of the building to access the broken pipe, and damage to other property from the discharge from the broken pipe. But there is no coverage for the repair of the pipe. Likewise, the cost of labor and materials to repair the pipe are not covered as that is specific to the repair of the pipe only. Repairing the pipe automatically involves labor and materials, so those elements are not covered separately.
Broken gas pipe and homeowners' coverage
Question: Is the cost to tear out a wall to fix a broken gas pipe covered under a homeowners' policy?
Our client is insured under an HO 00 03 04 91 policy. He smelled gas in his finished basement and called the local gas company. They responded and determined that a gas leak existed. They ripped open a plastered wall and located the leak, prevented any explosion, and soon fixed the pipe.
We turned the claim in to the homeowners' carrier. However, the insurer has denied coverage, stating that there was no damage.
— Ohio Subscriber
Answer: You are right about the plumbing situation. If this were a broken plumbing pipe, the policy would pay for the tear out and replacement of the wall. However, the broken pipe in this case is a gas line. The policy only specifies coverage for plumbing.
Even though one might call a plumber to repair such a leak, there is no coverage. Remember, plumbing is concerned only with the movement of water in and out of a building.
The only covered property to suffer damage is the gas pipe and that just wore out (an excluded cause of loss). Since covered property did not suffer loss from a covered peril, the homeowners' policy provides no coverage.
This is just one of those things that happens to a homeowner in which the insured incurs some of the expense.
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