What Might My Home Insurance Policy Cover?
When you review your homeowners, condo, or renter’s policy, you will see multiple sections of coverage. It’s important to understand these, and the definitions and exclusions in the policy.
Coverage for home losses (e.g., damage, theft) are determined by a licensed adjuster who is an employee of Electric Insurance Company. In general, coverage for a loss cannot be confirmed unless you first file a claim that a licensed adjuster investigates.
The Major Coverages
Coverage A: The Structure of Your House or Condo
Most homeowners and condominium unit owners policies cover the cost of repairing the physical damage to the structure on your property if the damage was caused by a covered cause of loss. Common covered causes of loss include fire, wind, hail, theft, and overflow from burst plumbing.
Coverage B: Other Structures on Your Property
Coverage B applies to the costs of repairs needed after a covered cause of loss to structures such as fences, detached garages, workshops, sheds, etc.
Coverage C: Your Personal Property
Most home policies include coverage for your personal property. Personal property items can be thought of as those items within your house that are not part of the structure itself, such as furniture, clothing, or electronics caused by a covered event that is specified in the policy.
While there is an overall limit on your policy for personal property, many types of items also have specific coverage limits and types of losses they are covered for. One example is jewelry; most policies contain sub-limits for the loss of jewelry due to theft and many policies exclude lost or missing items from coverage altogether. If you have specific highly valued items such as a piece of jewelry, we recommend scheduling the items for an agreed amount via a policy endorsement.
Coverage D: Loss of Use
Many policies include coverage beyond just paying for the costs you might incur to repair your home due to a loss. Many policies also include coverage for the additional costs you might incur due to your home not being accessible because of a covered loss. This could include the cost to rent a temporary home after a fire, or the loss of rental income due to a tenant no longer being able to reside in the home.
Coverage F: Medical Payment to Others
Most policies contain coverage for medical expenses someone might claim due to an accident at your home or otherwise caused by you or a member of your household. Most often these expenses are related to an accident at your home resulting in someone getting injured and incurring medical bills. This coverage does not apply to medical expenses incurred by you, a member of your household, or resident employees.
Coverage E: Personal Liability
When people think of a home policy and what it covers, they generally think of damage to their home or property. If you are looking at your homeowners’ policy, you may find there is a section of coverage for liability. Most homeowners’ policies carry personal liability coverage that may extend to you for a variety of situations when someone is claiming you are legally liable for a loss they have incurred.
Examples of home liability losses
- Your dog bites a visitor to your property
- A tree on your property falls and damages your neighbor’s property
- A visitor to your property is injured by slipping and falling on your stairs
A claim against you can be overwhelming. Learn about how we handle liability claims under your homeowner policy.
Other Coverages
Most homeowners’ policies contain additional coverages (up to a set limit) for other types of costs you may incur.
Examples include:
- Costs related to the removal of debris after a covered loss
- Costs incurred by following code upgrades required to bring a building up to current standards after a covered loss
- Costs of replacing covered tree, shrub, and plants after a covered loss
- The cost of loss assessments you receive related to repairs completed by your homeowners’ or condo association due to a covered loss
- The cost to replace refrigerated food that spoiled due to a covered power outage
