# Huh? My renter's insurance doesn't cover my "water or steam"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343 "2008-07-13T17:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/1 "2008-07-13T17:27:28Z")
Here’s a weird one. I have a renter’s insurance policy from Traveler’s, and I was looking at the list of excluded property. In addition to relatively expected items like pets and cars and aircraft, there is this item at the end: > [@](#): > > I. Water or steam. Anyone have any idea what case this would cover, where I would want to claim loss of “water or steam”? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/2 "2008-07-13T20:55:23Z")
Just a WAG. > **[Compare renters insurance quotes to get the best rates \[2024\]](https://www.insure.com/renters-insurance/compare-renters-insurance-quotes/)** > > Renters insurance covers your personal property from a variety of risks and includes liability insurance. Learn how to get renters insurance today. > [@](#): > > Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system, or from a household appliance. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/3 "2008-07-13T22:23:03Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Just a WAG. > **[Compare renters insurance quotes to get the best rates \[2024\]](https://www.insure.com/renters-insurance/compare-renters-insurance-quotes/)** > > Renters insurance covers your personal property from a variety of risks and includes liability insurance. Learn how to get renters insurance today. [/QUOTE] That’s pretty much correct. All a renter’s policy is going to cover is your personal property. It won’t cover damage to the dwelling itself, including things like the water heater, radiator (if there is one), furnace, etc., nor will it cover property inside the building that the landlord owns, such as appliances. If, for example, the fridge’s drain clogs, flooding the kitchen and ruining the kitchen floor, your policy would cover squat; it’s the dwelling policy that would pay to fix the damage. OTOH, if the water damaged the contents of your kitchen cabinets, your renter’s policy would replace that. IAAInsuranceAgent, but I don’t have your policy in front of me, nor do I represent your company. You can always talk to your agent or call the customer service number if you have questions about specific coverage. Robin ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/4 "2008-07-13T23:04:13Z")
See, that would make sense that it would not cover **damage** due to water or steam. But it’s actually not covering the water or steam itself. This is in the list of excluded items that aren’t reimbursed for, not the list of excluded causes (like nukes and acts of god and such). Which is pretty weird, you have to admit. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/5 "2008-07-13T23:40:24Z")
Well, another WAG that it’s just insurance company verbal shorthand. Instead of spelling out “Accidental discharge or overflow blah blah blah”, they feel it’s sufficient to merely put in, “Water or steam”. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/6 "2008-07-14T00:13:37Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Well, another WAG that it’s just insurance company verbal shorthand. Instead of spelling out “Accidental discharge or overflow blah blah blah”, they feel it’s sufficient to merely put in, “Water or steam”. [/QUOTE] That’s the kind of laziness lawyers love to pounce on. If my Stanley exploded causing steam damage, I would not hesistate to challenge any claim denial on that basis. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/7 "2008-07-14T01:15:25Z")
Yeah, an interesting theory, but this is the same contract that specifically excludes hovercrafts because they don’t fall into either the motor vehicle or aircraft exclusions. Hovercrafts! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huh-my-renters-insurance-doesnt-cover-my-water-or-steam/456343/8 "2008-07-14T03:34:37Z")
I wonder if it means that if your pipes burst while on vacation and water or steam spewed forth for 6 days, they would not reimburse you for the huge bill the water company would be sending you.