frozen supply line under our kitchen sink let go while we were at my in-laws for thanksgiving and Travelers tried to call it "wear and tear"

we live in a 1996 split level outside minneapolis and we left for thanksgiving the wednesday before. set the thermostat at 62, double checked the doors, the usual. came home sunday night and i could hear water before i even unlocked the door. the braided supply line on the cold side under the kitchen sink had blown. cabinet was destroyed, kitchen floor was destroyed, the subfloor underneath was soaked through and water had been running down into our finished basement ceiling for what we figured was about 3 days based on the meter.

called Travelers that night, they got a mitigation crew out monday morning. so far so good. the adjuster came out wednesday and i thought we were on track. about 10 days later we get a partial denial letter saying the supply line failure was "wear and tear and gradual deterioration" not a sudden and accidental discharge, so they would cover the resulting water damage but NOT the mitigation costs to access and dry the affected areas. the partial pay came out to about $11k on a loss our contractor priced at $34k.

i went and dug the failed supply line out of the contractor's debris pile. it was a braided stainless line with a clear burst point. not corroded, not crusty, just blown open. i took photos from 4 angles and i had a plumber friend write up a one page letter saying in his opinion this was a sudden mechanical failure consistent with thousands of these lines he has seen fail, not gradual deterioration. i also pulled the product info and noted these lines have a recommended replacement interval of 5-8 years and ours had been in the house when we bought it 3 years ago so we had no way to know its age.

i sent the photos, the plumber letter, the manufacturer info, and a polite but firm letter asking for the claim to be re-reviewed under the sudden and accidental discharge provision. it took 6 weeks and 3 follow up calls but they reversed the denial on the mitigation portion and paid an additional $19,400. still have a coverage gap of about $3,500 we are eating but i can live with that.

biggest thing i learned: dont throw out the broken part. the second you do you have lost your evidence. our contractor was about to haul it out and the only reason it still existed was because i happened to walk past the dumpster on day 2 and grab it on a hunch.