Home insurance Claims
Home insurance will protect us against theft, storms, some types of home water damage, fire and in most circumstances, against accidental damage.
But there are a lot of misunderstandings about what is covered for by a home insurance policy. There are exclusions that many people are not aware of or have not considered.
Far too many people have a very liberal and inaccurate understanding of what is covered by their Alberta home insurance policy.
Something Specific Must Have Caused the Damage
Damage must come from a definable event such as a storm. Without this event, you are not likely to make a successful claim on a home insurance policy. In other words, you can’t claim for things that are caused by normal wear and tear.
Take a leaking pipe as an example. You might only be able to claim for that if you can show it was caused by a fast freeze, for example, rather than by lack of maintenance.
Maintaining Your Home is a Requirement
Don’t expect to just let that old porch collapse and make a claim on your home insurance. Maintenance is one of the main exclusions that people are unaware of and sometimes attempt to wrongly make claims for. Any maintenance work is not covered by home insurance.
Again, you will never successfully make a claim on your home insurance to check or replace roofing under any circumstances relating to maintenance.
On the other hand, if the roof is damaged in what’s called a definable event, such as a storm, you would likely be able to make a claim to repair the roof.
Make Sure You Have Enough Insurance
If you are underinsured, you may find yourself in a challenging position where you are unable to cover the costs of repairs to your home. If you did not accurately assess your rebuild costs, or you made changes or upgrades to your home and did not inform your insurance provider, you may not have the funds necessary to, for example, rebuild your home.
Report any Damage in a Timely Manner
You might not be allowed to claim, or to recover the full costs, if you don’t notify your insurer immediately when you notice damage from a claimable event. If you leave it and it ends up getting worse, it might not be covered by your home insurance.
You should also take appropriate steps to protect the property from further damage. For example, if windows are broken, have them boarded up to protect your home and property against vandalism or weather damage.
Be sure to determine the damage to your personal property and document this in as much detail as possible. And be sure to save all receipts for any temporary repairs that you make.
Home Insurance – Questions
When considering your Home Insurance needs, there are a lot of issues to consider. In this section, we have a Common Question series below:
Question: “Our son and his friends had a party at our house while we were away for the weekend. There are a few smashed windows and some damage to our property.
Does our home insurance cover this?”
Answer: “If your son was the one who broke the windows and damaged the property, then no, your home insurance would not cover this.
Most home insurance policies exclude intentional damage to your property cause by anyone insured under the policy. Typically, your son would be considered an insured under the policy.
If the damage was caused by others, then your home insurance would typically respond to this type of damage. You just need to make sure that you have a comprehensive policy and/or vandalism is covered under your policy.
If you’re not sure, review your policy wordings or speak with your insurance agent.
You’ll also want to be aware that each broken window may be considered a separate occurrence and subject to a separate deductible.”
Click below to view Youtube Additional Questions:
Alberta Home Insurance – Planning Home Renovations
Alberta Home Insurance – House Party and Damage to our Property
Alberta Home Insurance – Heavy Snow and Roof Collapse
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