Insurance Coverage for Storm Damage

8/12/2022 (Permalink)

Understanding your property insurance can help protect you in the event your home sustains damage from a storm.

Spring and Summer weather in the Midwest is welcomed with open arms each year.  It can, however, bring storms that could cause a wide variety of damage to your home.  Fortunately, much of this damage is covered by your homeowner’s insurance.  This insurance protection depends on what type of damage was caused and what caused it.  

Here are a few common events that are often covered on a standard home policy:

Wind Damage

Wind almost always damages the weakest areas of a home. After a storm, indications of damage would include:

• Shingles in the yard
• Creased or broken shingles from wind
• Loose or missing siding and trim on your home
• Loose or broken downspouts and gutters

Hail Damage

If hail causes damage to the exterior of your home, your dwelling coverage helps cover the cost to repair or replace the damage.

However, your home’s detached structures, such as a fence, garage, gazebo or swimming pool, may only have limited coverage from your base policy. In order to properly protect them from hail damage, you may want to consider adding coverage for your detached structures.

Lightning Damage

Lightning can cause serious damage to your home, including fire and damage to your electronic devices. Fortunately, your home insurance covers lightning-damaged electronics and other personal property, and your dwelling coverage protects the structure of your home if lightning causes a fire.

Here are a few coverages that can be added for extra protection:

Flood Insurance

Floods are a natural disaster that aren’t covered by your homeowners policy, but many companies offer flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program. If you live in a flood-prone area or just want peace of mind, consider purchasing flood insurance to protect your home and personal property.

Roof Replacement Cost Coverage

Your home insurance is designed to help cover the replacement of your roof if it’s damaged by a covered loss. But the amount you’ll receive for your damaged roof depends on if you have actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cost value (RCV). Having roof replacement cost value coverage means you’re covered for what it’d cost to replace your roof today without worrying about depreciation.

Matching Siding Coverage

Homeowner’s insurance replaces siding damage from specific types of losses, like damage from wind.  However, it only covers the parts of your home that are damaged. By adding matching siding coverage, you’ll be covered for a higher amount to compensate for replacing additional siding to match.

Sump Pump Coverage

Your sump pump is designed to remove excess water that accumulates around your home’s foundation. If the system ever fails or the power goes out, water overflow may occur. And you're typically not covered for this type of damage with your homeowners insurance. Having water backup and sump pump overflow coverage gives you that important layer of protection that is so important during these Lake County spring and summer rains.

In the event you do suffer damage from a storm, please do not hesitate to call SERVPRO of Gurnee at 847-838-2954 for your restoration or repair concerns.  We are here to help 24/7/365.