Let’s say a visitor comes to your home. That visitor causes damage to it, such as breaking a window or dropping an expensive vase. Do you have home insurance to cover these losses? This depends on multiple factors.
Most of the time, home insurance covers accidental loss and damage. But there are a few other factors that play a role in this, too.
Why Did The Damage Occur?
Home insurance policies typically cover damage that is accidental. It is something that happened that you could not predict or prevent from occurring. When a person comes to your home, you are welcoming them in. If they were to damage your belongings on purpose, your insurance might not offer coverage to you.
On the other hand, they may have an accident. That vase may slip off the shelf. The visitor may damage the home’s drywall by falling through it. There are many potential accidents that can occur. These types of accidents generally have some coverage under your home insurance policy.
What Received Damage?
Other factors to consider include the types of items that suffered damage and those items’ value. For example, damage to the structure is likely to automatically have coverage. However, if there is something very valuable lost, there may be some limits to consider. Most home insurance policies limit per item damage to $1,000. If you own items over this amount, you can separately insure them as a rider. You should do this for any type of asset in your home.
What About The Deductible?
It is also important to consider the deductible for your policy. Many home insurance deductibles range from $500 to $1,000, though these deductibles can be much higher. This deductible is the amount you pay first. The insurance company then pays the rest. That broken vase may have a value of $2,000. If your deductible is $1,000, the home insurance policy covers the second $1,000 to replace the item. If the damage is under $1,000, though, the policy may not pay you anything. At this point, you need to determine if it is worth filing a claim.
Your BigInsurance.com agent can help you through this process. Contact them after an incident. Be sure to take pictures of what happened. That can help your agent process the claim for you.
Taking these actions can help you to get back to replacing the item or getting the repairs done as necessary. Most often, this is a simple process to follow.
Keep in mind, your visitor might have liability insurance of their own that can pay for the losses. If your own insurance can't help, theirs might.