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What your home insurance may not cover

Posted by admin on March 17, 2011 in insurance

Spring brings the promise of longer days, the end of school and summer vacation. Unfortunately, a lot of snow has to melt and rain to fall before we get there.  All this water creates a lot of problems for home-owners. While fire damage is always a clear and present danger, it is water damage which tends to get a lot of homeowners.

However, in reviewing my home insurance policy, I noticed something interesting. “Water damage-ground water and sewer” and “weight of ice, snow or sleet and above ground water damage” are actually additional riders in my home insurance policy (my home insurance provider is Meloche Monnex; this is one of the few cases where being asleep at the switch helped me).

In other words, water damage is not a standard rider in a home insurance policy. I looked further and oil damage, for those with oil tanks, is also not a standard rider in a home insurance policy.

Finally, for those running home businesses, a typical home insurance policy will NOT cover damage to your business assets. Many home insurance policies now provide home business riders as well.

For those who wonder “how will my insurer know whether the replacement computer is for personal and business use?” consider that in most commercial insurance policies the second most important coverage, after replacing damaged or destroyed goods, is business interruption coverage.  This type of coverage typically gives the policy-holder money to temporarily locate and keep the business running. Thus, if your house is substantially damaged enough not to run your business, this may be a rider to consider.

The moral of the story being to check your home insurance policy and make sure you are covered.