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From The Homeowner's Guide by Zulma

After a basement flood: what insurance covers, and what it leaves you

The crew dries the basement and drives away. Then comes the part most people never think to ask their adjuster about.

Last verified: August 4, 2026.

This guide is general information for Ontario homeowners, landlords, and tenants, current as of the date shown above. It is not legal, insurance, or tax advice, and it does not cover every situation or every policy. Your own policy wording and your own facts govern. For advice about your circumstances, speak with a licensed insurance broker, a lawyer, or the relevant agency directly.

Roughly 138 millimetres of rain fell on Port Dalhousie and 126 millimetres on Port Weller, both in the north end of St. Catharines, overnight on July 27 and 28, 2026. [1] [19] [20] The City reported more than 100 millimetres again on August 2, and on August 3 St. Catharines declared a state of emergency. [1] [2] Basements flooded across the region, in some cases twice in a week.

If that was your house, this page is about two things that are easy to get wrong in the first week: what your policy actually covers, and which parts of the cleanup you can put on the claim instead of paying for yourself.

We sell cleaning, so read this part sceptically

Zulma is a cleaning company. That gives us an interest in you believing the cleanup is yours to pay for. Some of it is not. The honest position, and the one this page takes, is that you should put the question to your adjuster in writing before you hire anyone, including us.

1. The two coverages you have to buy separately

A standard Ontario home policy generally does not cover a basement flooded by rain, surface water, or a sewer backup. What matters is the cause, not the room: a basement flooded by a burst pipe or a failed appliance hose is usually covered by the standard policy. [14] [17] [18] Coverage for the two ways storm water usually gets into a basement is sold as optional endorsements you add on and pay for separately. [14] [15] [11]

Many people do have them. The Insurance Bureau of Canada reports household flood insurance take-up in Canada rose from 26 percent in 2017 to about 71 percent in 2023. [14] Do not assume you are uncovered. Open the claim and make the insurer tell you in writing.

EndorsementWhat it responds toTypical status
Sewer backupWater or sewage backing up into the home through drains, toilets, the floor drain, a septic system, or a sump pump that fails or is overwhelmed.Optional add-on with almost every insurer. Check your own wording.
Overland waterSurface water entering from heavy rain, rapid snowmelt, or an overflowing watercourse. Depending on the insurer, this endorsement, or a ground water option sold alongside it, is also what responds to water coming through basement walls, the foundation, or up through the floor.Optional add-on with almost every insurer. Check your own wording.
Standard water damageSudden and accidental internal escapes: a burst pipe, a ruptured hot water tank, a failed washing machine hose.Commonly included in the base policy.

Two practical notes. First, these are different products: buying one does not give you the other, and a single storm can cause both at once, which is exactly why claims after events like this get complicated. [17] Second, cost and availability are tied to risk, and homes in the highest-risk areas may be quoted much more or may not qualify at all. [13] [14]

If you are reading this before it happens to you

Call your broker and ask: "Do I have sewer backup and overland water on this policy, what is the maximum each one will pay, and what is the deductible on each?" The limit matters as much as the deductible. These endorsements are often capped well below the rest of your coverage, so a claim can be accepted in full and still pay only part of the loss.

2. What a restoration crew does, and how the estimates are split

If your claim is accepted, an insurer typically authorizes a restoration contractor working to the industry reference standard, ANSI/IICRC S500. [16] A mitigation scope is a line-item estimate for emergency stabilization: extraction, controlled removal of soaked material, structural drying and monitoring, containment, and cleaning and disinfecting of the affected area. It commonly also carries line items for moving your contents out of the way and hauling debris.

There are usually three separate estimates, not one: the mitigation scope, a contents estimate, and the repair or reconstruction estimate. Each is scoped, approved and billed separately, and in Canada one company often handles all three. So ask which document you are being shown, and ask what is on the other two.

The phases are also paid for differently. Every fire insurance policy in Ontario carries Statutory Condition 9, which requires you to take all reasonable steps to prevent further damage and requires the insurer to contribute pro rata toward the reasonable and proper expenses of doing so. [12] The rebuild is governed by your policy's basis of claim payment, which on most Ontario wordings pays replacement cost only if you actually repair or replace within a reasonable time. [17]

Ask your adjuster: "Does my deductible, and any sewer backup or overland water limit, apply across all three estimates together or to each separately?"

3. What lands on you, and what to ask before you assume it does

This is the section most guides get wrong, including an earlier version of this one. The line between what the claim pays for and what you pay for is not where most people assume, and assuming badly costs money.

Many Ontario policies pay reasonable additional expenses to remove debris, to refinish undamaged surfaces so a repaired room still matches, and to pack, move, store and clean your belongings so the repair can happen. [17] Cleaning of your contents is a normal stage of settling a claim, not a favour. [15] Contents handling is often scoped and billed as its own phase rather than lumped in with the drying.

What is usually not claimable is ordinary housekeeping in the parts of the house that neither the water nor the crews ever reached. In practice the restoration scope is written around the affected area, so cleaning the flooded space is normally in it, and cleaning the rest of the house afterwards normally is not.

Two things are worth raising rather than assuming. If dust travelled well beyond the work area, the containment may have failed, and that is the contractor's problem, not yours. And final cleaning is a line item that can be added to an estimate where debris or dust from the repairs is unusual.

Ask your adjuster: "Is contents cleaning on my file, and is any cleaning of the areas your crews worked through covered? Please confirm in writing." Keep every receipt until you have that answer.

One thing worth being firm about

Do not let anyone, including a cleaning company, treat a wet basement or visible mould as though it were a cleaning job. Water that has come up through a drain or in off the ground is a contamination question. That work belongs to a restoration contractor with the right training and equipment, and it should happen before any ordinary cleaning does.

4. If you rent it out, or if you rent it

The split in Ontario is clearer than most people expect, and it does not move just because the cause was weather.

QuestionOntario position
Who repairs the unit?The landlord. Section 20(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 makes a landlord responsible for maintaining a residential complex, including the rental units in it, "in a good state of repair and fit for habitation". The duty applies regardless of whether the landlord caused the problem. [8] [9]
Who pays for the tenant's ruined belongings?In practice, the tenant's own contents insurance. Nothing in the Act makes a landlord the insurer of a tenant's belongings. A tenant can seek compensation at the Board, but generally has to show the loss resulted from the landlord breaching the s.20(1) repair duty. [8] [9]
When is the tenant liable for the damage itself?Where undue damage was caused by the wilful or negligent conduct of the tenant, another occupant, or someone the tenant permitted in the complex (s.34). An accident involving no wilful act and no negligence does not on its own make the tenant responsible. [8]
What if the landlord does not act?The tenant can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board about a breach of the landlord's maintenance obligations. There is a deadline: the application must be made within one year of the breach. The Board will consider whether the landlord was told about the problem, so put the request in writing now and keep a copy. [9]

For a landlord the practical consequence is that the repair timeline and the habitability obligation run at the same time. Where a unit is destroyed rather than damaged, the tenancy may be frustrated, which ends both sides' obligations. [8] If the tenancy is ending, or the unit needs turning over before you re-let, that is an ordinary turnover clean once the restoration work is signed off, not part of the insurance file.

5. What was available during the August 2026 response

These measures were announced for the July and August 2026 flooding and most have now closed. They are recorded here so you know what existed and what to ask about. Do not rely on any of it without calling the City at 905.688.5600 first. [1] [4]

  • State of emergency. Declared for St. Catharines on August 3, 2026. The Kiwanis Aquatics Centre opened its washrooms, change rooms and showers to the public. [2]
  • Enhanced curbside collection ran August 3 to 7, 2026 inside the eligible area, with garbage limits lifted for flood-related cleanup waste. Appliances, scrap metal, hazardous waste and liquids were not accepted at the curb. [4]
  • Waived tipping feesran July 31 to August 8, 2026 for flood-damaged material, a Niagara Region measure rather than a City one, limited to properties inside the Region's mapped flood-affected area and requiring identification. [4]
  • A Vulnerable Assistance Registry for eligible residents who need help removing water and waste. Call 905.688.5600 for intake support. [1]
  • Provincial help was requested, not activated. Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians can pay up to 90 percent of eligible costs to a maximum of $250,000, but only once the province activates it for a specific area, and only for costs your insurance did not cover. It had not been activated for Niagara as of the date above. Keep every photograph, receipt and invoice now so you can apply immediately if it is. [10]
  • The Flood Alleviation Program (FLAP) is a prevention rebate, not help with the flood you already have. It covers up to 90 percent of eligible costs to a maximum of $5,000 toward backwater valves, sump pits and pumps, and weeping tile disconnection, for single- and semi-detached homes built before 2012. Your application must be approved before any work begins, so do not hire a plumber now and apply later. [3]

Watershed and weather conditions change quickly and this page is not a live feed. Check the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority's flood status [5] and Environment Canada's alerts for your part of Niagara, which is split into a northern and a southern forecast region. [6] [7] Note that the NPCA leaves its most recent notice posted after it expires, so read the expiry line rather than assuming a posted notice is still in force.

The order to do things in

Print this. It is the sequence, not the whole job.

You have roughly 48 hours. Mould can start growing on wet materials within about two days, and anything that cannot be dried inside that window generally has to be thrown out rather than saved. What follows is a race against that clock, not a queue.

  1. Follow the City first. If authorities have told you to stay out of a building or an area, stay out until they say otherwise. Check the outside for downed wires, damaged gas lines and foundation cracks before you go in.
  2. Electricity before anything. If water is above the level of your outlets, baseboard heaters or furnace, or anywhere near the panel, do not enter the basement at all. Have the utility disconnect power to the property. Do not use any appliance that has been in floodwater until an electrician has checked it.
  3. Gas next. If you smell gas or hear hissing, leave immediately and call 911 from outside. If floodwater reached your furnace, water heater or stove, call your gas utility. Do not relight a pilot light yourself.
  4. Dress for it. Assume the water is contaminated with sewage, whatever it looks like. Rubber boots, gloves, eye protection, an N95, full-length clothing. Keep children and pets out until the cleanup is finished.
  5. Photograph everything once it is safe to be in there, before you move or discard anything, including serial numbers. Keep every receipt for cleanup and emergency work; if the claim is accepted those costs are often reimbursable.
  6. Call your insurer and open the claim, even if you are unsure whether you have the endorsement. Ask what is and is not covered, in writing, and ask specifically about additional living expenses if you cannot stay in the house.
  7. Build the inventory before anything goes to the curb. Your insurer will ask for an itemised proof of loss that you sign, and once material is collected you are reconstructing it from memory.
  8. Get the water out fast. If a crew is coming, extraction, drying, contamination control and any mould work are theirs. If no crew is coming, it still has to come out now. Never run a gas or diesel pump, generator or pressure washer indoors or in an attached garage: carbon monoxide builds up fast and you cannot smell it.
  9. Ask what the claim covers before you pay for any of the cleanup yourself. Contents cleaning, packing and storage, and debris removal are commonly claimable. Get the answer in writing.
  10. Wait for confirmed dry. If a crew did the drying, that means their moisture readings in writing. If you did it yourself, it means dry to the touch, no musty smell, and a dehumidifier that has stopped pulling water.
  11. Then clean the house. Top down, dust first, floors last, basement only once signed off. Post-flood dust is drywall dust and mould spores, so use a HEPA vacuum rather than dry sweeping, and keep the mask on.
  12. If you are on a private well, do not drink it. Flooding contaminates wells. Use bottled or municipal water until the well has been disinfected and tested; your public health unit arranges free bacterial testing.
  13. Then prevent the next one. Ask your broker about the endorsements, and look at whether a backwater valve or sump pump makes sense. In St. Catharines, get FLAP approval before you book the work or you lose the rebate.

When it is dry, we clean the rest.

Some of what follows may be claimable, so ask your adjuster before you pay for it yourself. Zulma does not do water extraction, structural drying, or mould remediation; call a restoration company for that. What we do is the part that comes after: the dust through the rest of the house, the stairs and halls the crews used, a single room such as the basement once it is confirmed dry, or a full turnover before you re-let. Carefully vetted independent Pros in St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, with more of Niagara opening zone by zone.

See what a clean would cost
  • From The Homeowner's Guide by Zulma. Free to read, free to share, no sign-up.
  • Last verified August 4, 2026 against the sources listed below.
  • Section 5 describes relief measures announced for the July and August 2026 flooding. Most have closed. Confirm current details with the City of St. Catharines or Niagara Region before relying on any of it.
  • Zulma is a cleaning company and this guide discusses work of a kind we sell, which is why our scope limits are stated plainly and why the guide tells you to ask your insurer what is claimable first.
  • This guide is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Your policy wording and your own facts govern.
  • Spotted something out of date? We would rather fix it than leave it wrong. Contact details are in the site footer.

Sources

Checked on August 4, 2026. Sources 1 to 13 are official: the municipality, Niagara Region, the conservation authority, Environment Canada, Ontario statute and tribunal material, a provincial programme, Ontario's insurance regulator, and a federal task force. Sources 14 to 16 are an industry association and an industry standards body. Sources 17 and 18 are insurers' own published product wording. Sources 19 and 20 are news reports, cited for the storm only.

  1. City of St. Catharines, July 2026 flooding response and recovery: https://www.stcatharines.ca/news/posts/july-2026-flooding-response-and-recovery/
  2. City of St. Catharines, Mayor declares state of emergency following City-wide flooding (August 3, 2026): https://www.stcatharines.ca/news/posts/mayor-siscoe-declares-state-of-emergency-following-extraordinary-weather-events-and-city-wide-flooding/
  3. City of St. Catharines, Basement flooding and the Flood Alleviation Program: https://www.stcatharines.ca/water-utilities-and-services/basement-flooding/
  4. Niagara Region, Flood response and waste collection: https://niagararegion.ca/waste/flood-response.aspx
  5. Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, Flood status: https://npca.ca/flood-status
  6. Environment Canada, Weather alerts, St. Catharines, Grimsby and northern Niagara: https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?onrm48=
  7. Environment Canada, Weather alerts, Niagara Falls, Welland and southern Niagara: https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/report_e.html?onrm19=
  8. Ontario, Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/06r17
  9. Tribunals Ontario, Landlord and Tenant Board, Interpretation Guideline 5, Breach of maintenance obligations: https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Interpretation%20Guidelines/05%20-%20Breach%20of%20Maintenance%20Obligations.html
  10. Ontario, Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians: https://www.ontario.ca/page/apply-disaster-recovery-assistance
  11. Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario, Helping you navigate property insurance: https://www.fsrao.ca/consumers/property-and-other-insurance/helping-you-navigate-property-insurance
  12. Ontario, Insurance Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. I.8 (statutory conditions for fire insurance): https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90i08
  13. Public Safety Canada, Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation, Adapting to Rising Flood Risk: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/dptng-rsng-fld-rsk-2022/index-en.aspx
  14. Insurance Bureau of Canada (industry association), Water damage and flood protection: https://www.ibc.ca/stay-protected/protect-your-property/flood-and-water
  15. Insurance Bureau of Canada (industry association), Flooding and insurance: https://www.ibc.ca/stay-protected/severe-weather-centre/flooding-and-insurance
  16. IICRC, ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration (industry standard): https://iicrc.org/s500/
  17. Aviva Canada, Water protection coverage (insurer product wording): https://www.aviva.ca/en/find-insurance/add-ons/water-protection/
  18. TD Insurance, Water damage and home insurance (insurer product wording): https://www.tdinsurance.com/products-services/home-insurance/tips-advice/water-damage
  19. CBC News, Flooding impacts homes, farms and vineyards in Niagara after overnight rainstorm (news report): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/flooding-niagara-storm-9.7288289
  20. CHCH News, Significant weather event declared in St. Catharines (news report): https://www.chch.com/chch-news/significant-weather-event-declared-in-st-catharines-after-regional-flooding-power-outages/