What is not covered by homeowners insurance?

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Homeowners insurance covers damage to your home and property from covered events. Floods and earthquakes are excluded. There is also limited coverage of service lines. You can get additional coverage or a separate policy for floods, earthquakes, and service lines. See Insider’s picks for the best homeowner’s insurance companies.

If a dog bites a guest, a postman slips in your driveway, someone gets hurt using your pool, or your home is damaged or your possessions stolen—homeowners insurance protects you.

Homeowners insurance protects three main components: your dwelling, your personal belongings, and personal liability coverage for injuries to your property.

However, there are some limits. Damage to your home or property must be due to the insurance risk to be covered. Damage due to improper maintenance or wear and tear is not covered.

What is not covered by homeowners insurance?

In order to be covered by homeowners insurance, damage to your home and property must be an “insurance risk.” Hazard refers to a specific event that causes damage to your home and property. Common insurance risks are fire, theft and lightning strikes.

Earthquakes, floods, government forfeitures, mudslides, ordinance updates, sewer backups and potholes are all risks that homeowners’ insurance won’t cover, according to Hypo Insurance. This will require additional coverage using the passenger policy or separate coverage. Additionally, homeowners’ insurance does not cover damages caused by improper maintenance or wear and tear.

Earthquake insurance is required for California homeowners. Covering “ground movement” refers to shifts in the ground caused by an earthquake, according to Steve Wilson, senior insurance manager at Hippo Insurance.

Homeowners insurance covers water damage, but not floods. Flood insurance must be in addition to a homeowner’s insurance policy to cover flood damage, and specifically excludes damage from water from sink pumps, sewage, broken pipes, rain from an open window, and rain from windstorms.

Earthquake coverage will sometimes apply to mudslides, Wilson said, but it’s best to use a separate rider because mudslides can occur outside of an earthquake or wildfire.

Service and sewer lines have limited coverage. Street-to-home lines aren’t included in your homeowners’ basic insurance coverage, but you can add service line protection as a passenger.

For example, in some cities the sidewalk is where the property line ends. So if damage to the sewer line occurs outside this area, the responsibility of your utility company is yours. But if the line damage occurs within your property lines, it should be associated with specific homeowners insurance risks to cover.

Homeowners insurance covers all risks

Homeowners’ policies fall into two categories: the so-called risk policy and the open risk policies.

The Named Hazard Policy covers listed events, such as a fire, storm, or theft. Most homeowners’ policies are labeled only risk. Open risk coverage includes named perils and is more expansive, covering anything not specifically excluded in the policy. HO-5 is an open hazard. For HO-3 and HO-7 policies, open risk applies to dwelling coverage only.

If your home is damaged due to the risks described below, you will be covered according to your type of coverage.

Source: Data from The Zebra and Lemonade

Types of home insurance and risk coverage

The type of homeowner insurance you need depends on the type of home you purchased: an apartment, townhouse, single family, rental home, or mobile home. Your coverage will vary based on the type of policy you have.

Townhomes can be HO-3 or HO-6 *Most lenders do not consider this coverage adequate **Open risk for dwelling coverage only ***Usually for new homes only****Check your condo association (HOA) home policy

Exceptions to housing coverage

Flood insurance is not a covered peril and requires separate coverage. In addition, flood policies typically use the actual cash value when you replace your belongings rather than the “replacement cost.” Homeowners insurance policies usually use a “replacement cost” when paying for covered damages. Replacement cost is the cost of replacing an item with a new or used one.

Actual cash value (ACV) takes into account depreciation of the item. For example, if a 5-year-old leather sofa is damaged by fire, the actual monetary value takes into account the age of the sofa. The actual monetary value is usually less than the replacement cost value. You may pay an additional amount to use the replacement cost of flood insurance policies.

Earthquake coverage is separate as well, but can be available as an addition to your policy. Wanted for homeowners in California. For homeowners who live in areas where earthquakes are rare, Wilson said most homeowners policy language provides coverage for “resulted damage.” For example, in New York City, earthquakes are not covered but if an earthquake causes a fire, the fire damage will be covered.

Exclusions from personal property coverage

Your property is covered for serious damage under the Personal Property Coverage. However, specialized items such as high-end electronics, specialty jewelry, furs, fine art, firearms, and cash may not be covered. According to Wilson of Hippo Insurance, these items may need an additional endorsement “personal essay” or contestant.

You can ask your carrier to increase the amount of coverage. Otherwise, you can get a personal essay contestant or endorsement to cover those items or take out independent jewelry insurance.

Exclusions from personal liability coverage

Certain things can be excluded depending on the home insurance provider, such as exotic pets, certain breeds of dog, a pool or trampoline. These can increase your personal liability as a homeowner. Some home insurance companies will not offer coverage based on the size and breed of dogs, especially large dogs and breeds considered aggressive.

More about homeowners insurance

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