When it comes to residential insurance claims in Canada, water damage is the number one source of high value, top-dollar claims. We pride ourselves on being here for you if disaster strikes, but we also believe in helping you manage risk by identifying potential claims and eliminating them before they occur!
There are several preventative steps you can take to help manage the risk of water damage, and we decided to test one of them out to gain first-hand experience. After all, we call ourselves experts at risk management, but if we want to advise you, we need to try it out ourselves!
WaterCop
There are tons of companies selling water sensors that automatically shut off the water supply in your home, and we decided to test out “WaterCop.”
The benefit of this system is it can go into any existing home because the sensors are wireless and you do not have to open walls to run wires. However, the disadvantage is that each sensor has a battery which will need to be changed annually.
Installation
This is an interesting system because the water sensors are installed by each source water– the sink, toilet, dishwasher, fridge, etc., which then communicates wirelessly to the main sensor unit in our mechanical room, and that sensor is hooked up to a shut-off valve connected to the main water supply.
For a home with one kitchen and four bathrooms, the cost was $3,800, including installation. Our plumber purchased the materials from WaterCop (they have a Canadian distributor) and installed them for us.
Advantages and Disadvantages
The benefit of this system is it can go into any existing home because the sensors are wireless and you do not have to open walls to run wires. However, the disadvantage is that each sensor has a battery which will need to be changed annually.
The system can also connect to our home alarm system, so if the water shuts off, our alarm monitoring station is notified which is helpful if we are out of town.
Insurance Discounts
This is not an inexpensive venture, but some insurance companies (including Intact and Chubb) are providing a discount for this type of system. Chubb offers a 5% discount if you have a sensor by each water source and it is tied to the alarm monitoring, and Intact’s discount depends on how many sensors you install. I know that other insurers, including Gore Mutual, are looking at offering discounts for these systems and there are surely more to come.
On Another Note
Sewer backup is another problem we like to avoid, so we also installed a ‘back-water valve’ on our sewer line which should prevent or reduce the severity of a backup. Our sewer line was accessible, and this valve is installed where the sewer line first enters our home. The cost was under $150, and we hope never to need it! (Some insurance companies like Intact do provide lower rates if you have a back-water sewer value installed).
Let Us Know
If you install WaterCop or a similar system, we would love to hear about your experience! Also, if you install one of these systems, let us know so we can notify your insurer and hopefully add a discount to your insurance.
Additional Resources
If you need a plumber with experience in this system, I would recommend Marc Knight of Black Knight Plumbing & Gas Fitting– tel 778-245-8285.
Interested in WaterCop? Visit their website here.
