Does Home Insurance Cover Appliances?
Your standard homeowners insurance policy does cover your appliances! However, they are only covered for specific causes of damage or loss, also known as perils. It’s important to remember that home insurance is not a blanket coverage that protects your property against everything. But there are some instances that it will protect your personal possessions, including your home appliances. These instances are the named perils specifically listed in your policy.
To help you better understand if your home insurance covers appliances, we have broken down the key points.
When Does Home Insurance Cover Appliances?
For a standard HO3 home insurance policy, your appliances are protected from the commonly named perils explicitly listed on your policy. This is essentially the same way your home insurance policy protects your other personal property. These perils may include:
- Theft and Vandalism: If someone breaks into your home and steals or vandalizes your appliances, your home insurance policy will typically cover the costs to replace them.
- Fire and Explosions: Your home insurance will usually cover appliances with damages caused by or completely lost in a fire.
- Lightning Strikes: In the case of a lightning strike, your home insurance policy will generally cover damages to your appliance caused by an electrical surge that occurred as a result of a lightning strike.
It’s important to remember that your home insurance policy will have a coverage limit on personal property. This could become an issue, should you need to replace all appliances at once. Appliances can be pricey – a typical dishwasher can cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. It’s important to brush up on your home insurance policy for specific details about these perils, as each type of homeowners insurance policy has different limits. Be mindful of your policy limits when looking into replacing your appliances.
When Does Home Insurance Not Cover Appliances?
While your home insurance policy covers appliances under certain circumstances, it’s important to note the circumstances that it will not cover your appliances. Things like normal age, wear and tear, and lack of maintenance are not covered under your standard home insurance policy.
- Wear and Tear: The everyday aging of your appliances is not one of the perils that your home insurance policy covers. This would require a warranty from the manufacturer, a home warranty, a separate coverage option, or out-of-pocket payment to restore.
- Mechanical Failures and Manufacturing Defects: If your appliance encounters a mechanical failure or a manufacturing defect, your home insurance policy will not cover it.
- Improper or Lack of Maintenance: If your appliances break down or become damaged as a result of a lack of maintenance or improper maintenance, your home insurance will not cover the costs to replace or repair them.
Additional Protections for Your Home Appliances
There are other ways to protect your appliances outside of your home insurance coverage:
- Surge Protectors: Surge protectors are a great way to help protect against lightning strikes and other power surges that could occur in your home. Recommendations for surge protectors include both the whole-home and smaller protectors.
- Equipment Breakdown Coverage: This type of coverage, or endorsement, helps protect against the sudden and accidental failure of an appliance. Your standard home insurance does not usually cover internal perils, such as power surges. This additional coverage can help protect you from the unexpected costs that come with replacing the equipment in your home. However, this policy addition does not cover normal wear and tear.
- Extended Replacement Cost: This coverage option helps homeowners rebuild their homes in the event of a total loss. Adding this can help you avoid coverage gaps. It provides more protection than your initial homeowners insurance policy due to its policy limits. Again, it’s important to always be aware of your policy’s limits.
- Flood Insurance: A separate flood insurance policy helps protect your home in the event of a flood, which is a peril your home insurance policy does not include. Even if you don’t live in a flood zone, this could still impact you! About 25% of all flood insurance claims come from homes outside flood zones, averaging over $40,000 in claims. This makes flood coverage a worthy investment for any homeowner.
Keep Your Appliances Covered with TGS Insurance
TGS Insurance is here to help homeowners protect their appliances, possessions, and home structure without breaking the bank. Our trained agents shop our roster of over 60 top-rated insurance carriers to find you the best rates available. Give one of our agents a call today to start saving on your home insurance!