Pennsylvania Subscriber

A

The water damage you describe is not any of the types of “water damage” as defined by the homeowners policy. It is not surface water, because it first entered a man-made structure, the well. (Surface water is usually defined as run-off of melted snow or rain that meanders over the ground, following no direct course.) Therefore, the exclusion of surface water does not apply.

The exclusion of water beneath the surface was intended to exclude coverage for the kind of damage that occurs naturally. Many times subsurface water will just seep into a basement, causing damage. That is the type of damage the exclusion is aimed at—not at a sudden and accidental overflow from a man-made structure. The well is part of the insured's plumbing system, and, as such, most courts hold that water from it would not qualify as water beneath the surface of the ground. (See, for example, Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co. v. Phelps, 294 So. 2d 362 [ Fla. App. Ct. 1974] where an underground pipe broke and the water damaged the insured's home. The court determined the loss was accidental discharge from within the plumbing and not excluded as water beneath the surface.)

Since none of the water exclusions apply, this loss is payable under the HO 00 03.