Your Homeowners Insurance May Not Cover
We all know disasters can strike our homes or businesses at any time whether it be a busted water pipe, a grease fire or tornado damage. We all do what we can to prevent damage to our homes but sometimes accidents, weather and part failures are out of our control; so we rely on insurance to help protect us and our property. Sometimes though, we assume that because we have an insurance policy, any damage to our house will be covered. But, as a lot of homeowners found out after Hurricane Matthew, your homeowners insurance doesn’t cover everything. Here are a few things that often surprise policy owners that are not covered by most standard homeowners insurance policies:
- Flood–separate flood policies are needed to protect you from flood damage. Not everyone is eligible for flood policies though.
- Sewage back up–special homeowner endorsements can be purchased and added to your policy. Rates for this endorsement are usually low and well worth the cost if you ever sustain this type of damage to your home.
- Additional structures–homeowner policies give a percentage of the overall coverage for your home to cover other structures on your property. If you’ve built a big, new detached garage or work building, make sure you increase the other structure coverage on your policy. You wouldn’t want to see it suffer storm damage and only have coverage for half its value.
- Business inventory–if you are self-employed and store inventory at your home, your homeowners policy most likely does not cover these items if damaged from a fire in your home.
- Mold–most policies either have a limited coverage amount for mold or excludes mold damage altogether.
PHC Restoration doesn’t want you to be caught off guard thinking you have appropriate coverage for a loss. We encourage you to read over your policies and talk to your insurance agent about any questions you may have. They are there to help you. Ask now before you are left with repair bills you thought you had coverage for.
