When you’re buying a home the traditional way, your lender will almost definitely require that you purchase insurance. Why? Home insurance provides financial protection for you, which in turn provides investment protection for your lender.
Even new homeowners tend to understand that home insurance can cover costs related to property damage. For example, if a storm knocks a tree into your roof, your insurance can help pay for the resulting roof repairs.
How much do you know about property liability? When choosing home insurance, it’s important to know the in’s and out’s of what insurance can (and should) cover. Read on to discover some of the surprising property liability coverage that may be included in your home insurance policy.
Home Insurance Basics
In case you aren’t familiar with the basic coverage that home insurance offers, let’s give them a quick glance. Understanding policy terms is crucial to finding the right coverage for your home.
Property Damage Coverage
In the context of home insurance, covered property damage refers to the types of damage to your home and some external structures on your property that your insurance will cover. Examples include things like:
- Certain types of storm damage
- House fires
- Water damage from burst pipes
- Vandalism
Typical home insurance policies will provide a maximum of $300,000 to $500,000 in property damage coverage. If you believe you need more coverage than what a traditional policy can offer, consider a high-valued policy.
Property Liability Coverage
Physical damage to your home and property isn’t the only thing home insurance will cover. Property liability coverage is available in the event that you are sued for:
- Medical bills
- Lost income
- Intangible damages like pain and suffering
Why would you ever get sued for these things? When other people are on your property, you’re often responsible for their well-being. If an accident occurs and results in an injury, you may be held liable, and your home insurance can help.
Surprising Things Your Home Insurance May Cover
Home insurance covers what? Here are some of the most surprising things that your home insurance may cover (and what you need to know before you assume that these damages are written into your policy).
Injuries Caused By Pets (Even Away from Home)
Your cat attacks the mailman when he’s delivering your mail. Your dog knocks over your child’s friend while they’re visiting or bites someone at the dog park. Injuries caused by pets are almost always covered by home insurance, even if your pets aren’t on your property when the incident occurs.
Accidents Caused By Your Children
It’s no secret that kids can get into mischief, even with the best of intentions. Say your child breaks your neighbor’s window with a rogue baseball or accidentally knocks someone down at the mall. Whether the accident causes significant property damage or injuries, you may have coverage, no matter where your child is.
Property You Damage That Isn’t Yours
Does this liability protection apply to you the same way it applies to your kids? Can you use home insurance to pay for damage to, for example, hotel property or equipment at your volunteer job? As long as you can establish that the damage was accidental, you can probably get coverage from your homeowner liability protection.
Accidents in Your Yard
Under most home insurance policies, liability protection for third parties extends to your yard, not just your home. In other words, if an invited guest gets hurt while playing in your backyard, you can file an insurance claim for the resulting costs.
The only thing to be aware of is what Find Law calls the attractive nuisance doctrine, which legally shifts the parameters of trespassing. To be more specific, it states that if your yard contains certain features (like a pool or treehouse) that might attract a child, that child isn’t considered a trespasser, and you’re liable for their safety. Plus, your home insurance policy may require you to meet certain qualifications to get coverage for injuries caused by attractive nuisances.
Identity Theft
As your digital footprint grows, so does your risk of identity theft, which can cost serious money to rectify. Believe it or not, your home insurance policy may include a rider that covers the cost of fixing identity theft issues. According to Nerdwallet, most providers will require you to opt in, so don’t bank on this protection unless you’ve taken steps to put it in place.
What Your Home Insurance Doesn’t Cover
Home insurance policies are filled with covered and excluded damages. We’ve shared some of the most surprising covered damages, but we need to talk about what’s typically excluded and why.
Damage Caused By (or Done To) the Policyholder
Your home insurance will kick in if you break a neighbor’s window with a baseball, but not if you break your own. Likewise, you will not see coverage if your dog bites you, rather than your mailman. Property damage cover falls under some strict parameters while liability insurance is reserved for third parties.
Damage on Company Time
We mentioned that your home insurance liability protection tends to follow you around when you’re not at home. One key exception is when you’re on company time or traveling for work. If you cause an injury or damage while working, your company’s insurance policy should kick in.
Auto Accidents
What if you’re backing out of your driveway and hit the neighbor’s fence? The second an incident involves your car, your home insurance policy stops providing coverage. Instead, you’re going to need to turn to your car insurance policy to seek proper liability coverage.
Find Your Ideal Home Insurance Policy With Kicker
As a new homeowner, you might come armed with home insurance basics. Now, you can look through your homeowner liability options knowing some of the more surprising things it might cover.
At Kicker Insures Me Agency, we value consumer knowledge above all else. Unlike captive agents, we’re not locked into one insurance provider and can shape each client’s policy around what they need, not what benefits us. Start with an instant quote today.