When you take care of your home to keep it in tip-top shape, the last thing you want to deal with is a professional’s negligence that causes a disaster. Sadly, these professional errors do happen and sometimes lead to indoor catastrophes. So what happens if your gutters weren’t installed right and your basement floods as a result? Who’s responsible for this mess, anyway?

Fortunately, a South Carolina independent insurance agent can not only answer this question for you but also help you and your home get set up with the proper South Carolina homeowners insurance. They know just the right protection to guard against professional errors and other issues, and they’ll get you set up with it long before you ever need to file a claim. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here’s how homeowners insurance would work in this scenario.

Who’s Responsible If My Basement Gets Flooded from Gutters That Weren’t Installed Right?

When you hire a professional, you trust them to get the job done right. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. That’s why it’s especially important to always hire licensed and insured workers to make any changes to your home. Be sure to ask for a company’s credentials right away. Assuming your home’s gutters were installed by a legitimate company, their business’s insurance would be responsible for reimbursing you for the damage.

Am I Responsible for Covering Any Damage Caused by the Flood?

Though the error would technically be the installer’s fault, if you wanted to file a claim against them through your homeowners insurance, you’d have to be able to prove the flooding happened as a result of the hired worker’s negligence. Once you filed a homeowners insurance claim, your insurance company would then sue the gutter installation business to recoup their losses after paying out your reimbursement.

If the business’s insurance didn’t cover the damage, or the company was not sufficiently insured, getting a claim approved by your homeowners insurance company could be difficult. A home inspector would have to visit your premises and determine exactly why the basement flooded. If it was decided that the flooding wasn’t caused by a covered peril and the gutter business’s insurance didn’t pay for the damage, you might be on your own.

What Causes Indoor Flooding in Homes?

It might not seem like botched gutter installation jobs result in interior flooding very often, but actually, gutter issues are one of the leading causes of home flooding. Check out the most common issues behind indoor flooding below.

Top 6 most common disasters leading to home flooding

1. Broken pipes
2. Faulty drainage
3. Clogged gutters
4. Broken appliances
5. Damaged foundation
6. Natural disasters

While some folks might suspect Mother Nature of being the cause of most indoor flooding, shockingly, this just isn’t the case. Most sources of home flooding stem from inside the house, which is why it’s so critical to know how your home insurance works and what it covers.

How Do Gutters Cause Indoor Flooding?

It might seem strange that equipment on the exterior of your home could lead to indoor flooding. However, there are many ways your gutters could cause flooding in your basement. Check out some of the most common gutter issues below.

Top gutter issues leading to indoor flooding:

• Clogged gutters: Clogged gutters are notorious for backing up and causing basement flooding, but they can also lead to damage to your foundation or roof. It’s important to keep your gutters cleared of leaves and other debris throughout the year.
• No splash blocks: Splash blocks reroute water away from the home after it comes through the downspout. When no splash blocks are present, a water buildup can lead to basement flooding, foundation damage, and other issues.
• Loose gutters: Gutters that aren’t properly secured to the home can leave space for water to enter the basement, foundation, roof, windows, and more.
• Defective pitches: The “pitch” is the section of the gutter that lets water and other runoff flow into the downspouts. Without a properly functioning pitch, water cannot pass through the downspouts correctly — leading to standing water and backups, and eventually, water entering the home.
• Faulty downspouts: Without adequate downspouts or downspouts that are in the correct place, water buildups can happen outside the home, eventually leading to water seeping inside.

Knowing the importance of properly functioning gutters and all the components that go along with them can help you ensure your home is maintained sufficiently to prevent indoor flooding.

What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover in South Carolina?

Just like anywhere else, homeowners insurance in South Carolina covers many aspects of the home, not just the physical building. Homeowners insurance can be customized to meet additional needs, but the common standard protections offered in South Carolina include:

• Dwelling coverage: This coverage protects the home’s structure or “dwelling” from perils like storm damage, fire, vandalism, etc.
• Contents coverage: This coverage protects your stuff like clothing, valuable collections, furniture, etc. from disasters like fire, theft, etc.
• Liability coverage: This coverage protects against lawsuits filed by third parties. Coverage reimburses for legal costs, such as attorney and court fees.
• Additional living expenses coverage: This coverage reimburses for extra expenses if your home becomes temporarily uninhabitable after a covered disaster happens. This includes expenses like hotel stays, additional mileage, meal costs, etc.

Your South Carolina independent insurance agent can further explain these coverages and others provided by standard homeowners insurance policies in your area.

What Doesn't Homeowners Insurance Cover in South Carolina?

South Carolina homeowners insurance protects you, your home, your family, and your belongings against many threats. However, your policy doesn’t cover just anything. Here are a few common coverage exclusions:

Since South Carolina is a coastal state prone to hurricanes and other disasters that commonly cause flooding, you may want to consider adding a separate flood insurance policy. A South Carolina independent insurance agent can also help you address any additional areas of concern where you feel your homeowners coverage may be lacking.

Here’s How a South Carolina Independent Insurance Agent Would Help

When it comes to protecting your home against basement flooding caused by botched gutter installation and all other incidents, no one’s better equipped to help than a South Carolina independent insurance agent. Independent insurance agents search through multiple carriers to find providers who specialize in homeowners insurance, deliver quotes from a number of different sources, and help you walk through them all to find the best blend of coverage and cost.