Is Gutter Cleaning Required by your Home Insurance Policy?
How often do you check the condition of your gutters or downspouts? If you do so infrequently, or worse – never – then you could be in danger of your insurance policy being void. It’s possible that your gutters and downspouts are not being maintained often enough. Gutters and downpipes should be cleaned out once per year at a minimum. If your guttering system is not maintained often enough, they can become blocked with leaves or other debris, which can damage the fabric of the building or lead to damaging water ingress, damp, mould and mildew.
Could your home insurance be void in the event of damaged caused by a blocked gutter or drain? The simple answer is yes. Insurance companies will request an investigation in to the cause of the claim and failure to upkeep regular maintenance can void any claim resulting in expensive repairs.
Aviva
“Property Insurance is designed to indemnify for any losses or damage directly caused by the insured perils specified in the policy. Normal wear and tear is a specific exclusion of most insurance contracts and many claims are rejected on the basis that damage was more directly caused by poor maintenance rather than by an insured peril. Insurance should never be seen as an alternative to good risk management.
Routine, ongoing and preventative maintenance will not only help keep a property in a good state of repair but will also help make a property more resilient to potential losses. Neglecting routine building maintenance will often result in the need for costly and more disruptive remedial work.”
Confused.com
“If your home is damaged from water overflowing from a blocked gutter, your insurer may turn down a claim because you should have kept your gutters clear.”
Churchill Insurance
“Poor upkeep could also seriously affect your claim if the insurer decides that maintenance would have prevented the problem from occurring. That’s why you need to keep your home in tiptop shape, giving it a full MOT after the winter months especially, checking for blocked gutters and loose tiles on the roof.”
London Victoria (LV)
It’s worth knowing that your home insurance may not cover you for damage caused by damp and condensation, making repairs expensive.
You may also not be covered if water damage is caused by you not cleaning your gutters often enough, so it’s essential that you check what your home insurance covers.
Gutter Cleaning & Repair
All work that is carried out by Gray’s Exterior Cleaning Specialists Ltd is not only recorded in HD, but you will receive a gutter maintenance completion certificate, which is valid for 12 months and can be provided to insurers as proof that routine maintenance has been carried out. All repairs carried out by us are guaranteed for 12 months.
