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File the claim, or pay for it yourself?
Water damage is what homeowners insurance is for. Before you decide not to use it, put in your numbers and see what each path costs you, and how much work each one pays for.
Step 1
What each path pays for
The supply line, water heater, or appliance itself. Most policies exclude it, so it counts on both sides.
Drying and repair paid out of pocket. Ours, a handyman’s, or your own cost to do it.
What a full insurance repair of this loss runs: dried to the IICRC S500 standard and repaired, with flooring usually replaced to a break line instead of patched. We can price both paths on the same visit.
Step 2
Your policy
Read these off your declarations page. Don’t call the claims line to ask. Some carriers log the call as a claim.
Mold and water backup often carry their own cap. On the claims we see, the mold cap is usually $2,500 to $5,000, and occasionally $10,000 on premium policies. Anything past the cap is yours.
Step 3
What a claim does to your premium
How a carrier treats a claim depends on how long you’ve been a customer.
In 2025 rate data, one water claim raised the average California homeowners premium 32%, and a second raised it 74% (Insure.com, from Quadrant Information Services quotes across 134 insurers). Increases typically last 3 to 5 years. Your insurer’s number may be lower or higher. Set it to what your agent tells you, or work it out from your policy below.
Most of a first claim’s increase is a claims-free discount you lose, often 20 to 25% and printed on the declarations page, plus a surcharge on top, commonly around 10%. Enter either or both and the increase above is set for you.
$0 a month for 4 years $0
Your premium may rise either way. This counts only the extra a claim adds on top.
What each path buys
| File the claim | Pay cash | |
|---|---|---|
| Drying | Dried to the IICRC S500 standard, with moisture readings logged until it’s dry. | Depends on who does it. Ask for the readings. |
| Premium and record | Higher premium for a few years, and a claim on your loss history. The calculator above prices it. | Untouched. |
| Flooring | Often replaced to a break line, like a doorway, so it matches. | Usually patched where it got wet. |
| Belongings, and somewhere to stay | Covered, up to your policy limits. | On you. |
| Damage found once the walls are open | A change order you approve, documented and sent to your carrier. | A change order you pay. |
That last row matters most on anything bigger than one room. Hidden damage is the number nobody knows on day one.
If you file, here’s how it works with us
We’re a preferred contractor for most insurance carriers in San Diego, so we know what an adjuster needs to see. You stay in charge of the job, and of the claim.
1. You approve the work
You hire us, not your insurance company. You sign our contract and approve the scope before we start, the same as any customer.
2. We document it for your carrier
Daily moisture readings, photos of every affected area, and an estimate written in Xactimate, the estimating software most carriers use. Your adjuster gets what they need to review the claim.
3. Your insurance reimburses you
Your carrier pays on your claim. Our invoice is yours either way, including your deductible and anything your policy doesn’t cover. Payment terms are in our contract.
4. More damage? You approve it first
If we open a wall and find more, we stop and show you. You approve a change order before we do the added work, and we send your carrier the documentation for it.
Before you decide
Ask your agent, not the claims line
Some carriers log a call to the claims line as a claim, and withdrawing it doesn’t take it off your record. Ask your agent, in general terms:
- What’s my deductible on a water loss?
- Is the repair to the thing that failed covered?
- What’s my mold cap?
- What does a water claim do to my renewal?
- Is a first claim forgiven, and what claims-free discount would I lose?
Check the deductible type
Some deductibles are a percentage of your dwelling limit, not a flat dollar figure. 1% of a $500,000 dwelling limit is $5,000, not $1,000. It’s printed on the declarations page.
Depreciation you front
Carriers often pay the depreciated value first and release the rest once repairs are finished and invoiced. It’s small on drying and larger on flooring and cabinets. If you take the check and skip the rebuild, you don’t get the rest.
Loss history
Claims stay on your loss-history report (CLUE) for up to seven years. At most carriers the claim follows you as the policyholder, and the house is underwritten on its own, but a buyer’s insurer can still see the address history. Either way, keep the moisture logs, invoices, and before-and-after photos. If you sell, known water damage generally has to be disclosed, and that file is your proof it was fixed right.
When this calculator isn’t enough
- You’ve had a claim in the last five years. That outweighs every other number on this page. Two claims of the same kind in five years is a non-renewal trigger at some carriers. Talk to your agent before you file.
- Your policy is under three years old. At some carriers a claim that early means it isn’t renewed. Ask your agent first.
- You rent, or you’re the landlord. The tenant and the owner have different policies and different answers. Sort out whose policy it is first.
- The leak ran for weeks. Many policies exclude seepage that went on longer than about 14 days, so the claim may not hold up either way.
- Belongings, a hotel stay, or damage behind the walls are involved. That is where a claim does the most for you, and none of it shows in the totals above. The rules of thumb stop working.
- The loss is near your policy limits. Get your own professional advice.
Request an inspection
Tell us what happened and how to reach you. We’ll take moisture readings and price both paths on the same visit. If water is still coming in, call instead.