After hurricanes and tornadoes, do you know the third most common cause of catastrophic damage to homes in the U.S.? It may surprise you to learn that it’s frozen pipes (according to the Insurance Information Institute).

Cold weather can create many headaches for property owners, including freezing the water in their pipes, which causes the pipes to break, leak, and fail. This can lead to flooding, which demands extremely expensive repairs to the plumbing system.

Frozen pipes are covered under most property insurance policies, but the contracts will usually include exceptions for cases where the property owner was negligent or failed to properly maintain their plumbing system. This provision can lead to denied claims.

Even in cases where the property owner was not actually negligent and did properly maintain their system, insurance companies have been known to try and deny, delay, or lowball damage claims. In these cases, a property owner should reach out to a licensed attorney for help.