A homeowners insurance policy will cover you in the event that you home or personal items are damaged by a covered peril, but there are also uncovered perils that your policy won't cover.
When you buy a homeowners insurance policy, you can usually rest easy knowing your policy protects your home from different covered perils.
In some cases, though, the damage won’t be covered if it was caused by an "excluded peril."
To understand what your homeowners insurance covers and does not cover, car insurance broker app Jerry
has compiled what you should know. Typical exclusions in an insurance policy
What you're covered for depends on the amount of coverage you get. HO-3 policies are the most common type of homeowners insurance policy, and they cover everything except specific listed perils outlined in your policy. The standard exclusions in an H-3 policy are:
Ordinance or law: Damage from demolition or construction being performed to bring your house up to code.
Earth movement: Damage from earthquakes, shockwaves, sinkholes, landslides, and mudflows.
Water damage: Damage from flooding outside your home, a sewer back-up, or water that seeps through and damages your home’s foundation.
Power failure: Damage to personal property, such as TVs, computers, and other electronic devices.
Neglect: Instances where you fail to take reasonable measures you take to save your property either during or following a loss.
War: Including an undeclared war or civil war.
Nuclear hazard: Damage from any nuclear reaction, radiation, or radioactive contamination, controlled or uncontrolled.
Intentional loss: Including if the homeowner did an act on purpose with the intent to cause a loss.
Governmental action: Including the destruction, confiscation, or seizure of covered property by a governmental or public agency.
Loss to property: Including damage from faulty zoning, bad repair, or workmanship; faulty construction materials; and defective maintenance performed by the homeowner or others.
If your home or items are damaged in these events, you probably won't be covered.
Keep in mind that you won't necessarily be covered for everything that's not listed as an HO-3 exclusion. If you have a different policy, such as an HO-2 policy, you could have less coverage.
Basic covered perils
Your homeowner’s insurance provides coverage against certain types of damage called perils. The most common perils
covered under an HO-2 policy, the most basic type of homeowners insurance policy, includes: Damage caused by aircraft
Damage caused by vehicles
Vandalism or malicious mischief
Weight of ice, snow or sleet which causes damage to a building
Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system or from a household appliance
Sudden/accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning, or bulging of a steam/hot water heating system, as well as an air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system
Freezing of plumbing, heating, or air conditioning systems
Damage caused by a faulty automatic, fire-protective sprinkler system, or faulty household appliance
Sudden/accidental damage from an artificially generated electrical current (not including damage caused due to loss to a tube, transistor, or similar electronic component)
How to cover excluded perils
Fortunately, insurance companies have additional coverage that you can purchase to cover some excluded perils. Most often this is in the form of separate earthquake or flood insurance.
You can also purchase separate coverage to protect the high-value items in your home, which are often not fully covered by your homeowner’s policy personal property coverage.
Ultimately, you should ask your insurance agent if you’re confused about what your home’s insurance policy actually covers. If you're concerned that some coverages are excluded, ask your agent if they offer policy add-ons to cover those perils.
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