Insurance Companies Don’t Cover Foundation Repairs

Insurance Companies Don’t Cover Foundation Repairs

In most regions of Texas the soil supporting homes is clay. Clay soil swells when it absorbs water and settles, or collapses, when the water evaporates, as during the recent two-year drought. This up and down movement wreaks havoc on your home’s foundation. And, your homeowner’s insurance probably does not cover the eventual repair cost! This begs the question, “Why doesn’t your insurance cover foundation repair?”

There are numerous obvious reasons. First, the soil in Texas, especially in Houston, Dallas, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Austin, undergoes a lot of up and down movement. Thus, there is a high probability that your foundation will be affected in the future. Insurance companies know that and will not insure such a high-risk event.

Second, insurance companies will not insure your home’s foundation as part of the homeowner’s policy because the industry knows that homebuilders are not designing homes that can withstand such soil movement. It is possible to build a foundation that can stand up to the pressure of upheaval and settlement. Commercial builders and structural engineers have figured out how to build in such a way that the foundation will resist the powerful forces of soil movement. Look at large buildings or bridges and overpasses. How is it that these structures don’t have foundation problems?

Structural engineers have developed a foundation support system that withstands the shifting soil under these structures. They use foundations with a drilled pier system that has a belled bottom, that is reinforced with steel and that has been placed in the ground with knowledge-based design provided from soil testing and experience. It’s the same design concept that Dawson Foundation Repair has used since 1984.

So, would insurance companies cover home foundations if they were built to handle the soil movement occurring underneath? Most certainly, the return on that coverage would be tremendous and profitable. Unfortunately, home foundations in Texas are under-engineered and /or under-designed, resulting in a high probability that a home in Texas will likely experience some foundation issue in the future. Insurance companies simply will not insure homes for foundation damage because they know that a very high percentage of Texas homes will experience foundation damage in the tens of thousands of dollars.  The insurance companies are not in the business of losing money. So the burden and expense of foundation damage and repair is placed upon the homeowners of Texas.

When the soil’s upheaval and settlement eventually causes a crack or break in your foundation, Dawson Foundation Repair is ready to provide a repair method that is proven, time-tested and permanent. Bell bottom piers are the gold standard of the foundation repair industry. Don’t settle for a cheaper repair method for your home. Go for a proven, time-tested, and permanent repair method.

Dawson Foundation Repair installs only Bell Bottom Piers for homeowners and commercial property owners. Read what Priscilla said in her testimonial comments.