No one wants ice dams in their future

Do the work now so you can rest easier this winter

The days on the calendar sure do seem to be turning more quickly lately! As we head into this Holiday season, it might be wise to address certain hazards at your home now - before you get into trouble down the road. If you've ever had ice damming in the past, you know how damaging it can be.

Icicles are pretty. Damage from ice dams is not.

Ice damming is a fact of life in our part of the world. And icicles themselves might be pretty, but they can wreak a lot of havoc with your home or business, not to speak of the dangers they can pose to you, your family, customers, employees. Ice dams are something you really are best to try and stay ahead of because the bigger they become, the more water accumulates, the more difficult they are to get rid of.

Does insurance cover ice damming?

Your insurance agency will almost certainly cover the damage done to your home caused by your leaking roof, and they may even pay to remove the portion of the ice dam that's directly causing the leaking. But typically the removal of the ice dam itself is considered to be the homeowner's responsibility. "Because of where we live, the CH Team always goes over your homeowner's policy with a fine tooth comb making sure we have all the bases covered. Ice damming and the damage it can cause is one of those details we discuss with clients as part of their policy," says David Wicker, Senior Account Executive, Personal Lines at CH Insurance.

Ice damming occurs when accumulated snow on a sloping roof melts and flows down the roof, under the insulating blanket of snow, until it reaches below freezing temperature air, typically at the edges of the roof. When the melt water reaches the freezing air, ice accumulates, forming a dam, and snow that melts later cannot drain properly through the dam.

"Always take the time to read through your homeowner's insurance policy and understand what's covered, and what's not covered. Because we know most people are busy and don't want to read through their whole policy, we take our clients step by step through the policy when they come on board with us to make sure they understand all the in's and out's," states Joe Convertino, Jr., President at CH Insurance. "Clients need to know that we'll be in there corner no matter what in working with the claims adjuster and helping facilitate their claim and make things as easy as possible if there is damage caused to your property because of ice damming."

Here are some helpful tips on how to prevent ice damming and if you get some ice damming at your home or business, here are some ways to get rid of it.

Feel free to reach out to our team here at CH with any questions you might have about what's covered, what's not covered, under your current policy. Protecting your business and what's important to you personally is our number one priority. Stay warm, stay healthy and we'll all get through this winter, together. We're in your corner!