Winter Is Coming…Are You Covered? Home Insurance Checklist

Winter weather can damage your roof, plumbing, or other aspects of any home you own. Are you prepared?

Don’t Overlook Basic Maintenance

To reduce your risk of winter weather damage, maintain your property in advance. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, here’s what you need to consider:

• Snow and ice can break tree limbs. Have your trees pruned and dying branches removed. If diseased limbs were hanging over your roof before the roof is damaged, your insurer would likely deny your claim.

• Clearing the debris from your gutters will help prevent ice dams from forming.

• To protect interior pipes from freezing, allow a slight drip to run, and open the sink cabinet doors. Letting water move through interior pipes and warm air circulate around plumbing lines can keep water from freezing. And remove all garden hoses before freezing weather sets in.

Consider a roof inspection, and an attic inspection as well. A roof inspector can find problem areas before leakage starts. And ask about snow guards to help ice melt and drain safely. Ice can get under roofing shingles, then melt, allowing water to damage the inside of your home.

New roof and soffit vents might help balance your ventilation and insulation. A cold temperature in the attic can also prevent ice dams.

What about fire? It might not be on your winter weather bingo card, but winter house fires do happen. Be sure you’ve had regular maintenance done on chimneys or furnaces. Keep anything that might catch fire more than three feet away from fireplaces, furnaces, HVAC systems or electric heaters.

What Winter Damage Is Covered?

Review your insurance coverage to know how your policy treats winter weather damage. Hail or snow can break windows and damage your home’s physical structure. Repairs are typically addressable under your policy’s dwelling coverage. Sudden snow and ice damage can be covered — when a roof collapses, ice causes a leak, or a tree comes down. Home insurance might cover damage from ice and offer limited payments for ice removal.

Any damage caused by a condition that has built up over time (considered preventable) usually won’t be covered. Damage from sudden leaks (burst pipes) may be covered.  Most policies won’t cover damage from a backed-up drain or sewer unless you’ve paid for a special endorsement. Ask your insurance broker if you’re covered in case your personal property is damaged by the leak.

It’s up to the deed holder to keep up with the home’s maintenance. So, for example, mold is often viewed as a maintenance issue and typically isn’t covered by home insurance. Yet if the mold occurs suddenly, as a result of a risk your insurance policy covers (like weather-related roof damage), it could be covered by your home insurance policy.

Keep in mind that home insurance does not protect your home from the costs of water infiltration damage. Each state decides what counts as flooding, and which losses are excluded from coverage.

Floods go unaddressed in a standard home insurance policy. We discuss flood risks in more detail here.

What’s in a Standard Policy?

Most mortgage lenders insist that you keep at least a basic insurance policy in place while you have a mortgage balance. The company typically has you make insurance payments into your escrow account, as part of your monthly mortgage bill. After you pay off your mortgage, you’ll take care of the premiums directly.

You’ll need the insurance in case your home suffers damage. A standard policy covers:

• Damage from fire, storms, lightning, or a disaster listed in your policy. Your insurance broker refers to this as dwelling coverage.

• Installations, such as garages, gazebos, porches, and decks, as well as sheds and possibly trees and plantings.  

• Damaged or stolen personal property: furnishings, electronics, appliances, clothes, sports gear, and other personal items that aren’t built into your home. Coverage addressing loss or damage for personal items whether they were in or out of the home when the incident occurred. Expect a deduction for depreciation. 

• Luxury goods up to a certain value, and stolen or damaged (not lost) jewelry. A scheduled personal property endorsement covers the extra value of your personal belongings when the amount is higher than your policy’s limits.

• Loss-of-use coverage: costs of living out of the home during restoration work after a disaster your policy covers.

A standard homeowner’s policy does include liability — your responsibility for injuries or property damage you or members of your household cause to others. Personal liability covers bodily injury (dog bites, for example) and property damage if you’re found legally responsible in court. There’s generally no deductible for liability coverage.

What Risks Might Need Added Coverage?

Customers pay for endorsements to add coverage for risks that aren’t covered in a basic policy. Common endorsements look like these:

• Sewer or sump pump backup coverage is commonly needed, but requires additional payment.

• Policies in coastal areas may exclude damage from particular perils such as earthquakes or hail. In hurricane-prone states, a deed holder might look into windstorm insurance for sudden wind damage due to intense storms. (Wind is excluded in some areas, such as certain Texas counties).

• Equipment breakdown coverage pays to repair or replace major systems and appliances in case of mechanical failures (not normal wear and tear).

• Service line coverage addresses utility lines that are the responsibility of the policy holder.

• Identity theft insurance can recover income and legal costs in the event of data-related fraud.  

• An ordinance endorsement covers the need for restoration to comply with building codes or other local laws that have changed since your home was built.

• An inflation guard increases coverage limits, tracking the inflation of the dollar. To bulk up your coverage for disasters, ask about an extended replacement cost policy. Paying to restore your home to its previous condition would then be possible, regardless of inflation in materials and construction prices.

Note that some policies do cover risks that the policy doesn’t name; check with your insurance consultant for the finer points.

Ask About Discounts—But Don’t Go Underinsured.

Ask your broker how to get discounts — for example, by updating systems or installing safety features in your home. But saving money on premiums isn’t everything. You’ll also want solid risk protection. An umbrella policy is an add-on that expands coverage. And extended replacement cost coverage will pay to enhance your dwelling coverage, up to a specified limit.

A broker can tell you about further coverage — for example, to protect your business, or shield you from various kinds of litigation. Why choose a broker rather than deal with a particular company’s agent? First, it’s not costly to do so. Insurers cover the brokerage fees. Then, your local broker can check dozens of companies, set up your account, and keep a lookout for better deals.

This is not to suggest that any insurance is a bargain. Insurance prices are rising across the country. Across the board, deed holders are now sending 9%+ of their monthly housing payments to home insurers!

Preventing Home Insurance Claims Is the Best Policy.

This is because your insurance tends to go up when claims are paid. Other companies, not just the one you use now, can check your home’s claim history and also charge higher premiums based on that history.