Is Your Home Covered for Damage Caused by Storms?

9/15/2020 (Permalink)

Home Covered?

The hot humid North Carolina summers are synonymous for thunderstorms, which in some cases cause damage to homes and businesses. This leads to the all-important question of whether or not the damage will be covered by insurance. The answer to this important question depends on the type of storm damage and the provisions of the insurance policy as it relates to perils covered.

The typical homeowner’s policy owned by North Carolina policy holders covers damage caused by wind, hail, and lightning. Damages caused by water are far more complicated. When a water intrusion is the result of wind driven rain, there will be coverage. For example, when wind dislodges the roof shingles and water enters the roof causing damage the peril will be covered. However, ponding or overflowed creek or river that causes a water intrusion is considered ground water and is excluded from coverage from homeowner’s policies. Common covered losses are:

• Wind Damage that results in water damage is a covered loss.
• Hail, which is water in the form of ice which results in damage is a covered peril.
• Lightning that results in a power surge that damages electronics or causes a fire, is a covered insurance peril.

When rain water causes flooding which results in water damage, it is not covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy. There are instances where a basement or crawlspace equipped with a sump pump floods and the loss is covered by the policy, but not due to flood but as a result of the sump pump failing due to a power surge caused by a lightning strike that rendered the pump inoperable. Although storms can and do result in flooding, water damage of this sort requires a flood insurance policy. It is important to review your policies and know your coverage, before you experience a loss.