Water Intrusion In the Home

How Insurance Handles It – and How to Prevent It

Cam Allen L.I.W. NHI

April 2, 2026

In this weekly Q&A column, retired builder/building inspector Cam Allen answers readers’ home renovation questions. Have a question? Enter it in the form below.

Based upon statistics from 2024 and a small number of 2025 reports, claims for water damage in Canadian homes make up near, or in some provinces, just over half of all the home insurance claims annually. I will admit I was surprised at this level of claims for water damage.

Last week, I wrote on fire and insurance and that caused a flurry of emails. Most inquiries however were on water problems and insurance issues. It seems Canadians are not particularly happy with their insurance companies when it comes to a claim where water intrusion is involved.

How Insurance Companies Handle Water Intrusion

I did some research on this issue – how insurance companies handle water intrusion in their policies and where it appears they are going with respect to coverage.

I picked four major Canadian insurance companies and my first comment is, they are all vastly different in water damage coverage. Most companies have some basic water intrusion coverage in a standard policy that covers a plumbing fixture failure, overflow of toilet, sink and the like. Sewer coverage is a common “included in the extras” section. Water service line coverage was an extra that a couple of companies offered.

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The terms used by each company were considerably different and the number of optional coverages were even more divided. It seems there are numerous coverage options for groundwater invasion, groundwater flooding and the water table. The list of not covered was a lot longer than the covered options. One company offered separate coverage for eavestroughs and downspouts and another stated that separate coverage was necessary for damage caused by ice damming in the home.

One company covered, in an additional policy added to your home policy, water intrusion through the walls but did not cover damage to the footings, slab or outside drainage system. Reading the fine print has become
a necessity.

One area that they all agree upon: if you have a claim, your insurance rates are going to go up. One company stated that repeat claims for water damage “may generate refusal to insure.” At present, approximately 10 percent of Canadian homes are not insurable.

Flood Mapping

Flood mapping is one way insurance companies evaluate coverage. Natural Resources Canada has a site dedicated to data related to flood mapping. Here you can search for flood mapping in your area.

Flood Risk Canada is another site that offers flood-related data based upon previous flood mapping. The site lets you search by address. I searched my own home and was surprised how much of SW Ontario, which for the most part is flat farm land, was designated as a flood risk. When my co-author and I wrote our first book Fragile Shelters – Surviving a Climate Crisis & How to Protect Your Home we wrote a chapter called “Water – a rising challenge.” It took over 50 pages in our book to advise on water and homes.

Our chapter on wildfire is only slightly larger, with wildfires gathering far greater media attention. Our second book in this series, about buying or
building a climate protective home, will contain substantially more detailed information. This is simply due to the technical level one needs to maintain a home in today’s climate crisis.

How to Prevent Water Damage

So what does the average homeowner do? In one sentence, given the “bouncing ball” of insurance coverage you simply are going to have to become more proactive with respect to water, both inside your home and conditions that may cause groundwater intrusion.

It’s now clear, you will have to fully understand the details of your home insurance and obtain printed copies of all the added sections to your policy. The next step is being proactive as the vast majority of water-related issues are preventable.

Start in your basement and if you have a sump pump, invest in a battery backup pump, they range from $300 to $600 and are not hard to install if you are anywhere handy. Some include a separate water level sensor/alarm which is another good idea. One plumbing drain fitting (which I have never understood why this fitting was not code years ago) is a main sewer line backflow valve or 4” check valve.

This fitting is located on your main sewer line just inside your home. This fitting can eliminate upwards of 99 percent of sewer backups. They run anywhere from $300 to $700 plus install. I prefer the style with the clear cover so you can see the unit if it is working properly – most have an inspection port.

The last fitting I recommend is an automatic water shut-off valve. These fixtures, mounted on your main water line, detect excess water flow, leaks and other anomalies. While they are a bit pricey, $700 and up plus install, I
have seen the mess that a busted water line can leave in a home. The inconvenience, cost of repairs and stress is almost incalculable. Some insurance companies are starting to offer discounts on your insurance for installation of these fixtures.

Outside your home there is some basic stuff that every homeowner should be aware of and be part of their seasonal maintenance every spring and fall. Eavestrough maintenance is primary. Clean and consider adding gutter guards – they do help. There are numerous brands on the market so shop around. If you do not have extensions on your downspouts, you should, and we recommend they are at least 6 to 8 feet long. If you live in a recent subdivision, you may have a lot size that does not allow this distance. As long as you drain to the swale between your homes, that works as most municipalities require drainage certifications.

You can buy an add-on called a “downspout extension hinge” that allows you to hinge the extension that lays on the ground, helpful when cutting the grass.
Attention to the drainage or grades around your home is primary for reducing water intrusion into your basement, make sure they slope away from the house. To check this, take a 2×4, 8 feet long and lay on the ground with one end against the foundation. Set a level on the 2×4 and raise it up at the end against the foundation. At minimum the soil around your home should be ½ a bubble out of level. The space under the 2×4 is the amount of soil you need to add. Soil settles, It is not uncommon for grades around a home to be level or slope towards the house over time. Add soil to provide for natural ground water drainage here.

My last suggestion is a backup power system of some kind. Generators have come a long way in the past few years. Wattages of solar-powered portable power stations have grown substantially. Today, up to 6,000 W power packs with attached solar panels for recovery are available for residential use. This is ample backup power for most homes.

Fully automatic whole house backup installations are becoming more popular. They can be powered by natural gas, propane or regular gasoline. The most common generators are the portable gas models, available in many different wattages.

I have a 12,500 W whole house backup unit. When I put it in 6 years ago we hardly used it during the first couple of years. This past winter it was operational half a dozen times, for over 8 hours in a couple of cases. The climate is changing, preparation is not something to think about anymore, it’s something to act on.

Read more on this topic in Basements!!! They are often dark, damp, and a flood risk. How can we mitigate?

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