From an intense New England storm to a sudden appliance breakdown, a criminal act, or just plain human error, on any given day, something or someone—even a member of your own household—can cause damage to your property and belongings.
Having a homeowners policy typically means you won’t have to deal with the aftermath alone. This vital insurance solution is designed to help you make repairs, buy replacement items, clean up the mess, and otherwise recover from many of the bad things that can happen to your house and its contents.
Since no two home insurance policies are ever exactly the same, it’s important to know—before a catastrophe occurs—the specific perils that are covered by your individual policy, as well as the coverage limits and deductibles related to those events. If you would like assistance from knowledgeable and experienced insurance professionals that will review your policy with you and help you better understand what it may or may not cover, please reach out to the local Morse team.
In the meantime, we are happy to share general information about eight common property threats that are typically included in a standard home insurance policy.
1. Fire and Smoke
Regardless of whether you experience a relatively minor cooking mishap that leaves your home smelling smoky and some of your kitchen walls and cabinets covered in soot or you lose nearly everything in a major fire event, a standard home insurance policy typically helps cover costs associated with repairing and/or replacing your home and belongings after fire and smoke damage. Additionally, if you can’t live in your home while it’s being rebuilt, some policies may help you pay for any additional living costs you incur during that time, such as hotel or temporary rental fees, restaurant bills, and boarding costs for a family pet. There are only a few occasions, such as when a fire is caused intentionally (arson) or by an act of war, where fire and smoke damage will not be covered by your homeowners insurance policy.
2. Lightning Strike
Lightning can do major damage if it hits your home, including destroying your appliances, electronics, and wiring system or starting a house fire. If parts of your property and/or any personal belongings are damaged or destroyed due to a direct lightning strike to your home or by a house fire that was initiated by lightning, a standard homeowners policy typically includes coverage to help with replacing items, the additional cost of living elsewhere if you are displaced, and any repairs to your home and other structures on your property, like a garage or shed. However, there are a couple of situations involving lightning where it is difficult to determine the true cause of damage to your home and it may therefore be more difficult to make an insurance claim. Some examples include when lightning hits near your home but doesn’t strike it directly and when lightning causes a spike in electricity, also called a ground surge, throughout an area.
3. Windstorms and Hail
When wicked winds or pelting hail—or a dreadful combination of the two—comes roaring through our South Shore towns, these nasty storms can rip siding off homes, tear shingles from roofs, break windowpanes, and more. In addition, once a roof, walls, or windows have been compromised, any ice, rain, or snow accompanying these storms may be driven straight into your home. While standard homeowners insurance typically includes coverage for damages to your property and belongings resulting from these extreme weather conditions, it is a good idea to double-check the extent of your policy’s coverage. Some insurance companies have adopted a hail and wind exclusion or have implemented an extra-high deductible for damage to exterior surfaces, like walls, roofs, doors, and windows. So, make sure to work with a local insurance agency, like Morse, that can help make sure your homeowners policy offers adequate windstorm and hail coverage for your property and its level of risk.
4. Vandalism and Malicious Mischief
If you’re a homeowner whose yard has been toilet-papered by mischievous neighborhood kids, you may want to consider yourself one of the lucky ones. At least they didn’t salt your lawn; cut down trees and bushes; break windows; spray paint, draw, or make carvings on your home’s exterior; place glue in door locks; tamper with your electrical or plumbing systems; or smash your lights, mailbox, and other yard décor into pieces. And these are just a sampling of the ways vandals are wreaking havoc on homes. While the repairs and cleanup after vandals strike can be costly, a standard home insurance policy typically includes coverage for this event, which means homeowners may get financial assistance to fix structural damage, refurbish ruined belongings, and replace landscaping elements.
5. Theft
While more and more homeowners are using smart home technology or adopting budget-friendly ways to better protect their homes from burglars, criminals are still finding home security vulnerabilities and taking advantage of them. If you experience a home theft, a standard homeowners insurance policy typically provides coverage to help you pay to repair property that was damaged as a result of the crime, like a window, garage door, or shed, and assists with the cost of replacing stolen belongings. One cool thing homeowners don’t often realize is that theft coverage in a home insurance policy also usually extends to vehicles. That means if you leave something in your car and it ends up being stolen, you typically can claim this loss under your homeowners policy. Another important thing to know is that if you have any high-value items in your home, such as family heirlooms, a vintage baseball card collection from your childhood, fine art, or even expensive gifts you’re hiding away until the holidays, a standard homeowners policy may only provide limited coverage if they are stolen, lost, or misplaced. It may be smart to speak with a Morse professional about getting broader coverage through a Scheduled Personal Property endorsement.
6. Fallen Objects
Most homeowners policies cover a variety of falling objects, some of which are very common in our region, like trees and branches, and others of which rarely make an impact, such as satellites, asteroids, meteors, and other space debris. Regardless of whether it’s a tree or a more unusual item that comes down on your property, your standard home insurance policy typically helps you cover the cost of repairs as well as the removal of the object if it hits your house, garage, fence, or another similar structure and causes damage. However, if a fallen tree or object has not damaged your home or another structure on your property, or has not blocked your driveway or an accessibility ramp, insurance companies generally will not pick up the cost to remove it. Finally, we know that many homeowners in our area like to store their personal watercraft on their property. So, we wanted to share that a home insurance policy may only provide limited coverage, if any, should your boat be damaged by that same tree, branch, or flying object that hits your home. You can work with your Morse professional to explore getting a boat insurance policy to protect your watercraft from a variety of events.
7. Weight of Ice, Snow, or Sleet
Not many New England homeowners would argue with us for calling winter the most hazardous season for the health of our homes. So, it might offer you some relief to know that seasonal nuisances, like ice dams that can damage your roof and gutters, as well as heavy, wet snowfalls that can cause your roof to sag or collapse, are cold weather threats that a standard homeowners policy typically includes coverage for. As an example, if a roof were to cave in or spring a leak due to the weight of ice, snow, or sleet, a homeowner usually can count on their home insurance to help pay to repair resulting damages to the outside and inside of their home. There are several things around your property that coverage generally does not extend to, though, including awnings, canopies, fences, pavement, patios, swimming pools, foundations, retaining walls, bulkheads, piers, wharves, and docks.
8. Water Damage
It doesn’t take long for a small amount of water leaking into a home—say, from a faulty washing machine hose—to turn into floor-to-ceiling water damage and a huge headache for the homeowner. Fortunately, standard home insurance typically includes coverage for home water damage if the cause is sudden and accidental and if the water has never touched the ground outside of your home. Some of the situations that often lead to home water damage and that may be covered by your policy include a burst pipe, a leaky roof, an overflowing appliance or fixture, and vandalism. In addition, a homeowners policy generally includes coverage if there is water damage due to tearing, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam, heating, AC, or automatic fire protection system. For these scenarios, your policy may help pay for the repair of the structure of your home, the replacement of personal belongings that cannot be salvaged, and mold remediation up to a certain dollar amount.
As soon as you discover home water damage, it’s critical to take action to protect your property from further harm. That’s because your claim is likely to be denied if the damage stems from a gradual problem that has gone unnoticed or untreated for some time. In addition, you’ll want to contact your insurance professional or carrier and take pictures of where the water is coming from, the affected area, and anything the water has ruined. Finally, it’s extremely important for homeowners to know that home insurance will not cover damages resulting from a flood.
How Do You Find Out What’s Covered in Your Home Insurance Policy?
Call Morse, of course! We think it’s very important that you know about the types of losses that are covered by your specific homeowners policy—and also those events that are not covered. A member of our team would be happy to review the details of your home insurance with you and, if coverage gaps are identified, offer recommendations on how you can broaden your protection.
Some examples of the valuable and highly cost-effective endorsements you may want to consider include Home Systems Protection, Service Line Coverage, and Water and Sewer Backup Coverage. In addition, if you leave your home vacant or unoccupied for more than 30 days at a time or if your property’s risk for flood has changed since you’ve purchased it, we want to help you make sure your coverage is updated to reflect these new circumstances. Contact us today with your home insurance coverage questions and needs.