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Is It Covered?

Answers to frequent questions for three common claims.

You just had a claim! That’s never fun, but hopefully, you purchased the right type and amount of insurance to cover the loss. One of the worst feelings, in my opinion, is waiting in the ‘unknown zone.’ You’re not sure of an answer that could help or hurt you and being forced to wait to find out what that answer is can be agonizing. Many people often feel this right after a claim happens as they’re waiting to hear if insurance will cover their loss. Thankfully, there are people to help during this turbulent time. Restoration companies like Total Restoration and insurance agencies like Capitol Insurance are there to provide quick, professional service in trying times. Even so, it’s important to have an understanding of what could, or could not be covered under your insurance policy, and why. So, let’s take a look at a few examples:

Wind pushes a tree onto your roof

This should be covered by most insurance companies. Wind is one of the basic perils that almost every insurance company protects against. However, there are a few weird caveats with wind. First, if you leave your windows open during a wind storm and mother nature throws a fastpitch gust through your window, knocking over your expensive TV, that most likely would not be covered because you ‘let the wind in,’ by leaving your windows open. Second, many companies will have a separate ‘wind and hail’ deductible. Since this is a very common claim, insurance companies sometimes add a higher deductible for this type of damage. If you’re not sure if you have a wind and hail deductible, call Capitol Insurance. Click here to find out if your house is under-insured.  

Your dishwasher starts to leak in the back, and you don’t notice the damage for two weeks

Typically, for a claim to be covered it has to meet the definition of being ‘sudden and accidental.’ This means that it happened quickly and was an accident. Even though water leaking behind an appliance is an accident, it isn’t sudden. Typically, this would be excluded because of that fact. However, there are one or two endorsements that when added can provide coverage for this exact scenario. Regardless of if you have this or not, you’ll need a good restoration company like Total Restoration to assess the damage for you. Then call Capitol to review your coverage. Click here to read more about water claims.

After a large snowfall, the weight of the snow causes your garage roof to collapse

This one depends on what type of coverage you purchased. If you decided to go with basic perils to save on cost, you could be paying out big bucks to pay for this damage. The coverage, ‘weight of ice and snow’ is a covered peril. However, it is only covered if you chose to go with a minimum of broad perils. The good news is that not many companies offer basic perils anymore unless they are a bare-bones company, or you specifically ask for that. Even better, most companies pass by broad perils and go to what is known as special perils or open perils. This is a must on all home insurance policies. Click here for information on ice dams or click here for cold weather tips.

There are many, many more examples we could get into, but that would take some time. So instead, try giving Capitol Insurance a call or sending us an email to discuss your coverage questions. And the next time you have a claim, consider using Total Restoration.