Everyone who owns a home should carry homeowner’s insurance. However, are you aware of the things that most policies will not cover on a homeowner’s policy? Here are just a few.
1. Homeowner’s policies will not cover surface water or natural flooding. This insurance must be purchased through a government agency and your home must be located in a flood plain. A homeowner’s policy will only cover flooding due to water pipes busting and other interior flooding problems.
2. Most companies will not even write a new policy on a home which has a swimming pool with no protection around it. If they do write it the company will exclude any liability coverage on the pool until a fence with a locked gate is put around it or another type of safety barrier is put up or over it. It must be equipped with a way to keep children and pets from getting in the pool and getting injured or drowning.
3. Homeowner’s insurance policies now, in almost all states, will not provide any kind of liability coverage on certain breeds of dogs. The main breed is Pit Bulls. Others include but are not limited to: Rotweillers, Dobermans, Chows, and other large breeds. The insurance company should be able to supply you with a list of these dogs. If you have to dog on the property a company usually will not even write you a new policy, and there are companies which will cancel insurance if the dogs are not gotten rid of. Or, again, the company will not provide any type of coverage if someone or another animal is injured by the dog.
4. Homeowner’s insurance policies will not cover mobile homes of any type. This includes mobile homes that have been built on to or has a “house” built around them. A mobile home must be covered by a mobile home policy.
5. The majority of insurance companies will not write a new policy if there are no handrails at steps leading up to the house. If they do write a policy most of them will exclude liability coverage until a hand rail is put up or built.
6. A homeowner’s policy is not put on a home under construction until it is to a certain percentage of being completed. Until that certain percentage is reached the policy is considered a builder’s risk policy.
7. A homeowner’s policy will not cover large barns such as found on farms. Also a homeowner’s policy will not cover tractors and other farm equipment. These must all go on a farmowner’s policy.
8. A homeowner’s insurance policy will not cover, in any way, any type of motor vehicle (cars, trucks, motorcycles etc). They sometimes will add a four wheeler to the policy in the event it is stolen or burned, but this will not cover the four wheeler if it is taken off the property.
9. A homeowner’s policy will not cover you getting hurt on your own property. You cannot be liable for yourself.
10. Last but not least a homeowner’s policy goes up to only a certain amount of coverage. If you have an excessive amount of valuables, collections, etc, you will need to also carry a policy known as an umbrella policy. To add some extra valuables to your policy (i.e. coin collections, stamp collections, gun collections etc) you will need to give an itemized list with the value of each item to the insurance company so they can specifically insure these items.
Thus, homeowner’s insurance is a wonderful thing to have. But knowing what you are not covered for is of much importance.
