Why the record matters
Most claims on emptyhouses are lost ontiming, not coverage.
A supply line lets go in March. You find it in May. The repair was never the expensive part. The expensive part is the two months nobody could account for, because that is the gap your carrier gets to argue about. Everything below is about closing that gap.
01 · What actually goes wrong
Three lines in yourpolicy do the damage.
None of these are secrets and none of them are unfair. They are standard terms that assume somebody is in the house. Nobody is in yours.
14 days
Florida policies commonly exclude damage from constant or repeated seepage or leakage of water over a period of 14 or more days. A slow leak in an empty house passes that line before anyone notices.
$10,000
The usual Florida cap on mold. Remediation on a coastal house that sat wet for weeks runs well past it, and carriers may charge their own investigation cost against that same cap.
1 year
Florida Statute 627.70132 bars a claim reported more than one year after the date of loss. For hidden damage in an empty house, proving when the loss started is the whole fight.
02 · What we do about it
A date on the pageis worth more thanan adjective.
Every visit we make is dated and photographed, and the report says what was checked, including the areas that were dry and fine. That last part is the part almost nobody does, and it is the part that matters.
In Hicks v. American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida, a Florida appeals court held that when a carrier wants to use the seepage exclusion, the carrier carries the burden of proving it, and has to apportion which damage happened after day fourteen. If the record shows your guest bath ceiling was dry on the fourth and stained on the eighteenth, that apportionment is close to impossible. The same dated record is what establishes a date of loss inside the one-year deadline.
Worth being plain about the limit: documentation does not create coverage and it does not override an exclusion. It is evidence. Evidence is what these arguments turn on.
What a visit record has to contain to be worth anything
- A real dateOn every visit, recorded when the visit happened, not typed in later.
- Named areasKitchen, primary bath, laundry, water heater, under every sink. Named, not summarized.
- The dry ones too"Visit completed" proves nothing. "Primary bath ceiling: dry" proves a lot.
- Photos attachedTo the visit and the area they came from, so the sequence holds up.
03 · The two pieces
Included in Coastal Elite.Add them to any plan.
Water Shutoff Protection
A smart valve that shuts your water off automatically, monitored by us.
A smart shutoff valve goes on your main line. It watches flow around the clock and closes the line by itself when it sees a burst or a running leak. The alert comes to us, not to a phone you left on a nightstand in Nashville. We drive over, confirm what happened, and tell you what we found.
- Professionally installed on your main water line by a licensed plumber
- Shuts the water off on its own when it detects a burst or a running leak
- Alerts route to us, and we go to the house
- Several carriers publish a premium credit for an automatic shutoff device. Ask your agent whether yours is one of them.
$1,295 installed, then $35/mo to monitor and respond. Monitoring is included on Coastal Elite.
Annual Coverage Record
One dated, photographed record of every visit we made to your home this year.
Once a year we compile every visit into a single dated document: what was checked, what was found, and the photos, in order. If you ever have to argue with an adjuster about when damage started, this is the thing you hand them. It is also the cleanest record of what you paid us to do.
- Every visit for the year, in order, with the date on each one
- Per-area notes, including the areas that were dry and fine
- Photos attached to the visit they came from
- Delivered as one PDF you can forward to your agent
$195/year. Included on Coastal Elite.
04 · Being straight with you
What we will nottell you.
You will find home watch companies claiming their service lowers your insurance bill. We checked. It does not, anywhere in the country, at any carrier.
- We will not tell you we lower your premium. No US carrier gives a discount for home watch, and none of the companies claiming it can name one.
- We will not call ourselves a second insurance policy. We are not insurance and the comparison is not honest.
- We will not say any carrier requires, approves, or endorses us. None do.
- We will not call our visits inspections. Home inspection is a licensed profession in Florida with a specific legal meaning, and we are not licensed for it.
- We will not tell you what your policy covers. That is your agent's job, and they are the one who can actually read your form.
One thing that is true and worth acting on: several carriers, PURE among them, do publish a premium credit for an automatic water shutoff device, and PURE names seasonal and unoccupied homes as exactly the reason. That credit comes from your carrier and attaches to the device. Call your agent and ask. If the answer is yes, the device pays for part of itself.
Questions
The honest answers.
Does a home watch service lower my homeowners insurance premium?
No. No insurance carrier in the United States offers a premium discount for hiring a home watch company, and any company telling you otherwise cannot name the carrier. What documented visits do is protect the claim itself. Separately, an automatic water shutoff device does carry a published premium credit at some carriers, including PURE. That credit comes from your carrier and attaches to the device, not to our service. Ask your agent whether your carrier files one.
Is my insurance void while my Florida second home sits empty?
Usually not. Most Florida policies trigger on the word vacant, which is defined as lacking furnishings, utilities, and amenities. A furnished second home with the power and water on is normally unoccupied rather than vacant, and fire and wind coverage stay in force. Your policy is the thing that decides this, so read your form or ask your agent.
Why do water damage claims on empty houses get denied?
Almost always on timing rather than on coverage. Florida policies commonly exclude damage from constant or repeated seepage or leakage of water over a period of 14 or more days, and mold is typically capped at $10,000. A slow supply line or condensate leak in an empty house runs well past 14 days and blows through the mold cap before anyone knows it started.
How does a written visit record help with a claim?
It fixes dates. In Hicks v. American Integrity, a Florida appeals court held that the insurer carries the burden of proving the seepage exclusion applies and must apportion which damage happened after day 14. A dated record showing an area was dry on a specific date makes that very hard for a carrier to do. Separately, Florida Statute 627.70132 bars a claim reported more than one year after the date of loss, and for hidden damage in an empty house that date is otherwise difficult to establish.
What does an automatic water shutoff valve actually do?
It sits on your main water line and watches flow around the clock. When it sees a burst or a leak that keeps running, it closes the line by itself, which ends the damage instead of letting it run for weeks. We hold the alerts, so someone local goes to the house and confirms what happened.
Are you an insurance agent or a home inspector?
No, and we do not want to be mistaken for one. Coastal Home Management 30A provides property visits and documentation. We are not licensed home inspectors, insurance agents, or adjusters, and nothing we publish is advice about your coverage. For anything about your policy, talk to your agent.
Start with a walkthrough.
I'll walk your home, tell you where the real water risk is, and show you what the record looks like. No cost and no commitment.
The fine print
Coastal Home Management 30A provides property visit and documentation services. We are not home inspectors, insurance agents, or adjusters, and nothing here is a home inspection, an insurance recommendation, or advice about your coverage. Our reports document observations on the dates listed. Policy terms differ by carrier. For questions about your policy, coverage, or a claim, contact your insurance agent.