Preventing Costly Water Damage Through Effective Technology Installation

• March 23, 2026

By Paul Vacquier

Insurers offer a premium discount to property owners who install smart water shutoff systems. The problem is, many of them are not working as they should.

For homes with automatic water shutoff valves, it’s estimated that 30% of devices credited by insurers aren’t online, according to Beagle Services monitoring data. Some are disconnected from electricity or Wi-Fi, and others were not installed correctly in the first place. This is compounded when homeowners neglect to check systems regularly.

These failures, whether due to bad installation, connectivity or even a fluke occurrence, are more common than imagined. For example, a homeowner in Texas earned a premium discount after installing a smart water shutoff valve in an underground outdoor box, but following a rainstorm, the box flooded with mud, deactivating the valve.

In a New York home, a leak triggered a smart shutoff valve, but a bypass loop left open during installation allowed water to keep running.

These are just two real-life situations where insurers assumed risk had been reduced and homeowners earned discounts, but the systems provided no protection.

When it comes to risk reduction, knowledge is power. If insurers have better visibility into whether home devices are active and functioning, they could intervene early, resolve installation or connectivity issues and ensure credits reflect genuine mitigation.

However, because these systems come from many manufacturers and run on different platforms, insurers typically cannot independently verify device status or activity. Professional monitoring services help close that gap by confirming that systems are installed properly and remain active over time.

On a basic level, data from smart water shutoff systems verifies that a device is actually functioning and delivering the risk reduction that justifies a premium discount. Telemetry, the automated, remote collection and transmission of data, can indicate whether a system is online and communicating, whether it has steady power, and whether internal diagnostics or valve self-tests indicate any faults.

If a device goes offline, loses power or fails a periodic actuation test, monitoring can quickly flag that the system may no longer be capable of shutting off water in the event of a leak.

Water flow data also delivers insight into how a system is performing. These monitoring platforms can detect abnormal patterns, such as continuous flow, micro-leaks or unusually high water usage, that may indicate developing plumbing issues.

Over time, monitoring data can reveal signs of device degradation or reduced effectiveness. Together, these data points help insurers move beyond simply verifying that a device was installed and instead confirm that it remains operational and capable of reducing water-damage risk throughout the policy period.

Insurance professionals can better support clients by helping them assess their household risk profile and identify tailored solutions, beginning with connecting them with qualified installers and reputable tech providers. Preventing common installation, setup and maintenance mistakes is another key step, with an eye toward proper device placement and plumbing integration to avoid bypass loops or incorrect line connections.

Carriers, agents and homeowners all play a role in reducing losses from water leaks and water damage. As mitigation technologies like leak detection systems and automatic water shutoff valves become more common, homeowners need expert guidance on how these tools work and how to ensure their effectiveness. As trusted advisors, independent agents can offer this expertise.

Paul Vacquier is CEO of Beagle Services, a plumbing technology company that helps homeowners prevent costly water damage through technology deployment, smart valve installation and monitoring. He works closely with insurers, agents and homeowners to tackle one of the industry’s biggest loss drivers: non-weather water damage.