Insurance claims for busted pipes are piling up in Texas, as winter storm ice thaws
For many North Texans, the great snow storm of 2021 will soon be a memory, as the weekend arrives with the promise of warmer weather.
But for thousands of other Metroplex residents who have experienced busted pipes or other damage to their homes because of the week of subfreezing temperatures, much hard work remains.
“Just that little inch of pipe that breaks, you wouldn’t believe how much water ran into our house,” said Kevin Lambert, a mortgage banking business in north Dallas who on Friday helped his 76-year-old mother after a water line burst inside an exterior wall of her master bedroom.
Lambert said he was lucky that his family has a long-term relationship with Atlas Plumbing, which was able to get a crew to his mother’s house within about 48 hours of the leak being detected. In the mean time, neighbors helped Lambert’s mother turn off the water connection to her house — and she spent two nights at her son’s home, while her place lacked running water.
Others who discover leaks in their homes may have to wait four or five days for a plumber to respond, officials said. As a result, many North Texans may have to seek help from friends or relatives to stay in a spare bedroom until the plumbing can be fixed — or, if they are lucky, they may be able to find an available hotel room.
Already, customers of State Farm Insurance have filed 18,900 claims across Texas this week, including many related to burst water pipes, spokesman Chris Pilcic said. In all of last year, Pilcic said, State Farm had only 75 claims related to frozen pipes, he said.
“We’re seeing these reports across the state. It’s not concentrated in any one area,” Pilcic said in an interview. “It’s happening all over Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston San Antonio and border to border.”
Pilcic urged homeowners to call their insurance agent immediately upon discovering a possible leak, and follow that agent’s advice. Many insurance agents will already have plumbers and other specialists lined up to help policy holders, Pilcic said.
Many insurance policies will help offset some costs such a hotel stays, but others may have to foot those bills themselves.
Ben Friedman, whose family owns Atlas Plumbing and who is a member of the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, said insurance companies had provided his company with more than 500 leads for North Texans who need urgent work on their pipes.
But, Friedman said, his 89-year-old company’s priority is fixing the homes of his long-time customers first.
“My next four to five days,” he said, “is going to be spent with existing customers.”
