Is gutter cleaning required by your home insurance policy? You probably haven’t spent any time pondering that specific question. But in the event of a water damage claim, if your dirty gutters are partly responsible, the answer to that question will become very relevant!
Is gutter cleaning required by your home insurance policy: the simple answer
Is gutter cleaning required by your home insurance policy? Absolutely, yes!
Your insurance policy may not explicitly tell you that you have to keep your guttering and other rainwater goods in good condition, but all home and business owners are expected to keep on top of general property maintenance.
Insurance companies protect their policy holders from ‘perils’. While these will often include water damage, the nature of a peril is that it is sudden and couldn’t have been prevented. So, water damage following a storm that damages your home would be covered.
If an insurance company discovers, during their investigations, that water has been allowed to change course or build up over time, due to blocked guttering, they are likely to refuse to pay out, because the damage was preventable through proper maintenance.
Even if the main cause of water damage was a violent storm, don’t be surprised if your insurance company throws out your claim due to the state of your guttering.
Are your blocked gutters putting your property in danger?
People often ask the question ‘Is gutter cleaning required by your home insurance policy?’ without considering how important it is to the health of their homes or businesses.
Blocked gutters may seem a minor issue, one that you only notice following a spot of heavy rain, but don’t underestimate the damage this can do.
Water always follows the simplest route to the ground. If your guttering is clean, well-constructed and regularly maintained, this will be the path it follows. But if it encounters a build up of debris, such as leaves, moss and weeds, it will often overflow and run down the side of the building.
Over time, this will leave unsightly stains and erode the surface of your property. Worse still, water may penetrate the roof or building, causing damp inside and often the build up of mould.
Roof timbers exposed to water can rot, weakening your roof. In some cases, standing water will pool around, and eat away at, the foundations of the building, leading to severe structural damage.
Blockages can also damage the guttering itself. If you’ve ever removed accumulated debris from a gutter, you will know how heavy it can be. This can cause guttering to crack, warp and become misaligned, leading to even more leaks and debris build-up. When you finally get around to clearing your gutter, you suddenly find you’ve got to carry out repairs – or fork out on new guttering.
Let SAS set your mind at ease
Hopefully you are now clear on the answer to the question, “Is gutter cleaning required by your home insurance policy?”
The next step is to get into the habit of regular gutter cleaning and maintenance. This should be done at least twice a year, although you may also want to check gutters and downpipes after a spell of bad weather.
If you haven’t had your guttering cleaned within the last six months, now is the time to put things right. If you’re local to South Devon, we recommend you contact SAS and get a quotation for the work.
We always use our state-of-the-art GutterCam to take a before and after picture of your gutters, so you can see for yourself how spick and span they are after we have worked our magic.
We also recommend you retain your receipt, just in case you do have a future water damage claim. You can then prove to your insurance company that your guttering is being well maintained in line with your policy.