Does Home Insurance Cover Natural Disasters?

Does Home Insurance Cover Natural Disasters?

Standard homeowners insurance generally pays to repair or replace personal property and your home's structure if they're damaged by a covered event, including certain natural disasters. Home insurance covers damage from fires, smoke, lightning, windstorms, hail, falling objects and volcanic eruptions.

If your home is uninhabitable due to a covered risk, home insurance also pays your additional costs of living elsewhere during repairs. This is known as additional living expense (ALE) or loss of use coverage.

Learn more: What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?

What Disasters Are Covered by Home Insurance?

The following natural disasters are typically covered by home insurance.

• Tornadoes: Home insurance generally covers damage from tornadoes and related hail or lightning. Your home's structure, other structures and your personal belongings are covered, as are additional living expenses during tornado-related repairs. However, home insurance typically doesn't cover flooding from a tornado, and some policies won't cover wind damage if tornadoes are common where you live.
• Hurricanes: Hurricane damage to your home, personal possessions and other structures on your property is usually covered by homeowners insurance. Home insurance also pays ALE costs if a hurricane leaves your home uninhabitable.
• Winter storms: Homeowners insurance generally covers damage from winter storms, including damage from snow, ice or falling tree branches; wind; freezing rain or snow getting into your house; ice dams; and pipes that freeze and burst. However, home insurance typically won't cover water damage winter storms cause from below, such as melting snow that floods your basement; for that, you'd need flood insurance.
• Fire: Damage to your home or personal belongings from fires, including wildfires, is covered by standard homeowners insurance. Home insurance also covers smoke damage from fires and provides ALE coverage if you must leave your home during repairs or remediation.

Tip: Getting home insurance in areas with high wildfire risk can be challenging. Investigate your state's Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, which provides basic coverage for homeowners who can't get insurance elsewhere.

Learn more: How Much Homeowners Insurance Do You Need?

What Disasters Are Not Covered by Home Insurance?

Some disasters aren't usually covered by homeowners insurance.

• Earthquakes: Homeowners insurance doesn't cover earthquake damage, although it generally covers fire or water damage arising from an earthquake. Standalone earthquake insurance, which covers your home, personal possessions and loss of use, is available from private insurers or, in California, through the California Earthquake Authority (CEA).
• Floods: Home insurance generally doesn't cover flood damage, even if the flooding arises from a covered natural disaster such as a tornado. You can protect your home with add-on flood insurance, available from private insurance carriers or through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Your mortgage lender may require flood insurance if you have a federally backed mortgage and live in a high-risk flood zone.
• Tsunamis: Damage from a tsunami isn't covered by standard homeowners insurance. However, flood insurance policies usually cover flood damage that a tsunami causes to your home or personal possessions.
• Sinkholes: Sinkholes occur when the earth under your home moves and generally aren't covered by home insurance. However, some states require insurance companies to offer add-on or stand-alone sinkhole insurance as an option for homeowners.
• Landslides: Homeowners insurance typically doesn't cover landslides, so homeowners in areas at high risk may want to buy a Differences in Conditions (DIC) policy, which usually covers landslides, mudflow, earthquakes and floods. Your state insurance commissioner or an independent insurance agent can help you find DIC coverage.
• Mudflow: Generally, mudflow damage isn't covered by home insurance, but it is covered by flood insurance. In some cases, your homeowners insurance may cover mudflow caused by a covered risk, such as a wildfire.

Learn more: What Is Not Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

How to File a Home Insurance Claim for a Natural Disaster

If you need to file a home insurance claim for a natural disaster, here's what to do.

1. Document the damage. Take photos and videos for the insurance company. Make a list of personal possessions that were damaged or destroyed and gather receipts if possible. Don't throw damaged items away.
2. Make any urgent repairs. Although you shouldn't make permanent repairs until your claim is settled, you can make temporary repairs to prevent additional damage, such as boarding up a window. Keep receipts for the materials or labor used.
3. Contact your insurance company. You can usually file a homeowners insurance claim by calling the insurance company, visiting their website or using their app. You'll be assigned an insurance adjuster and a tracking number for the claim.
4. Work with your insurance adjuster. Your adjuster will typically visit your home to assess the extent of the damage and gather documentation, such as receipts, photos or a home inventory list of damaged or destroyed belongings.
5. Get repair estimates. Contact contractors to get quotes for repairs. These estimates can help your insurance adjuster accurately calculate your settlement.
6. Receive your claim payout. Your home insurance deductible will be subtracted from your settlement amount, which may go to you, to your mortgage lender or to your contractor. You'll typically receive separate payments for structure repair, personal property replacement and ALE.

Tip: Home insurance may have disaster deductibles that differ from your standard deductible; these can be anywhere from 1% to 25% of your home's insured value. Find out how much your deductible will be before filing a claim.

Learn more: What Is a Homeowners Insurance Deductible?

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

Buying homeowners insurance can help ensure you aren't flirting with disaster when it comes to your home. Before purchasing a policy, clarify what's covered, what's excluded and any special disaster deductibles. Depending on your location, you may want additional coverage, such as earthquake or flood insurance, for more protection.

Extra coverage can add up, but you can save on home insurance by shopping around and comparing prices. Maintaining good credit might also help you save. Insurance carriers in many states can consider your credit-based insurance score when setting premiums. Credit-based insurance scores aren't the same as regular credit scores, but they're calculated using similar information. Actions that can help improve your credit score, such as paying bills on time and reducing debt, can also increase your credit-based insurance score, which could translate to lower home insurance premiums.