Common Home Insurance Exclusions

Homeowners insurance policies are designed to cover losses for a lot of accidents that could occur throughout the course of homeownership.  However, there are some insurance policy exclusions that you may or may not know apply to most standard homeowner’s insurance policies.  Learning about what is and what is not included in your policy before an accident occurs is important.  Among the most common are:

• Floods – You will need to have a separate flood insurance policy in place to cover flood damaged property.  What is considered flooding?  Any water that comes up from the ground.  A heavy rainstorm could cause flooding as well as water damage to your roof.  The roof would be covered under a typical homeowners policy, but the flooded basement would not.
• Earthquakes, mudslides, and other damage due to earth movement – If you live in an area prone to earthquakes, you may be required to carry earthquake coverage.  New Jersey isn’t typically prone to earthquakes, but with the earth constantly changing we cannot be sure what the future will hold.
• Some windstorms – as we all know from recent storms like Sandy and Irene, it is important to have the coverage needed for large windstorms such as these.  Recent changes have been made to require separate wind policies in order for coverage during those terrible storms.
• Some dog breeds – Even though your pet German shepherd named Fluffy might be the gentlest creature on the planet, you may not have coverage under your homeowner’s policy if he were to attack an intruder.  There are several dog breeds that may be excluded from your homeowner’s insurance coverage including pit bulls, German shepherds, Rottweiler’s, and wolf hybrids.

Find out what your policy covers and what it does not.  If you are unsure of your coverage, please call us for clarification.  We would be happy to help.

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