Broken Water Main Floods Home in Duluth

DULUTH, MINN. — Generally, a water main break causes pooling of water in the street and perhaps in adjoining yards. But in this case, the water main broke on a slight hill, and that allowed it to flow on Paul Zwak’s property and into his garages and home.

Paul and his wife and two of their children spent much of last night cleaning the mud from the driveway and garages.  In their basement, the only option was to tear out all of the carpet, it was all soaked. “I’m frustrated.” Zwak said, “I guess that would be the best way for it. ”

A lot of this frustration comes from the fact that he’s not sure who will pay for the damage, will it be his insurance company, or will the city of Duluth take responsibility for the water main break, or will he have to pay for it himself?  “It’s frustrating to me to know both the city and the insurance company are kind of waffling on covering this,”  said Zwak.

We talked with the owner of Hanlon and Associates Insurance Agency, who is not Zwac’s insurance company. He says your standard homeowner policy does not cover flooding. Tucker Hanlon told Fox 21, “Some of the ways water coming in through walls or through windows.  If it comes in that way it is considered a flood and typically that’s not covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy.”

Zwak says the claims adjustor from the City of Duluth was at his house this morning looking at the site and trying to determine what happened. “I talked with the city claims adjustor the morning and they’re likely not going to cover it as well, either,” Zwak said

So at this point, the best information for any homeowner or renter, according to Hanlon, is to talk with your insurance agent. Find out what your own policy actually covers for damage from water.