• Maintenance related concerns: It is the homeowners' responsibility to properly maintain all insured properties.
• Coverage exists elsewhere: Scenarios such as damaged cars as result of a house fire will be covered under an auto policy.
• Unlawful events: Most policies exclude incidents that are illegal or criminal by nature. These incidents may include intentional acts by the homeowner that cause damage to the home.
• Catastrophic events: Major disasters such as a nuclear incident or any war related damages.

In the next sections, we will go over some common examples of insurance exclusions as well as specific scenarios that are likely excluded in your homeowners insurance coverages. 

As always, we strongly recommend discussing your insurance coverages with a dependable agent to make sure you are properly and adequately protected. 

Note: Earthquake and flood can be covered by supplementing homeowners insurance with additional insurance. For more information, we will be going over them in the next chapter. 

Construction defects are the result of poor workmanship by builders or contractors who were hired as part of the initial construction of the home or subsequent remodeling. 

In many instances, construction defects are discovered by a licensed home inspector during the process of a real estate transaction. An inspector has thorough professional knowledge and experience to properly identify construction defects or poor workmanship.

In other instances, construction defects are revealed after the homeowner reports damage and it has been assessed by a professional like a plumber or another contractor.

Water mains are large underground service lines that transport water from municipal water supply systems to residential homes and businesses. A single water main can transport enough water for an entire city block.

Due to the enormous amount of water it carries, a water main break can wreak havoc to an area similar to what a flood could.

There are two natural disasters that are commonly excluded in your standard homeowners insurance policy: 

Earthquakes are very common in many parts of the United States, especially along the West Coast. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are vulnerable to potential major earthquakes as we are right next to an area known as the Cascadia subduction zone.

Flooding can be a frequent occurrence as part of the natural phenomenon of seasonal changes for many people living near a river, lake, or coastal front. However, risk of flood exists for those who live further inland as well, especially in developed residential areas where large amounts of water has nowhere to recede.

In this chapter, we will go over coverages of both earthquake insurance and flood insurance.

In addition to the main coverages listed above, earthquake insurance policies also include the following features:

• Debris removal covers the cost of clearing and removing debris from your property after an earthquake. However, this may not cover the cost to extract pollutants from the soil or water around your property. 
• Engineering and demolition cost covers the cost to engineer and rebuild the home, as well as the cost to demolish structures that are unfit or unsafe on your property for rebuild.
• Building code upgrade covers the cost of following local city regulations for repair or rebuilding of your home. The coverage limit is specified on your policy (e.g. $10,000) and it is most applicable to older homes in areas like electrical and plumbing.
• Loss assessment covers the cost assessed to you as a home or condo owner to rebuild or repair any common or shared areas within the home or condo association.

Earthquake insurance endorsement

Some homeowners insurance companies offer earthquake coverage as an endorsement, and homeowners can elect to add this endorsement on to their policy for an additional premium. 

If your home is older than a specified age requirement, you may need to meet additional requirements before you are able to add the endorsement even if your home is already insured under an existing homeowners policy. These requirements may include retrofitting your home such as bolting down the frame of your house into the foundation and securing other structural elements within your home. 

Separate earthquake insurance policy

In most cases, homeowners purchase separate earthquake insurance policy from a specialized earthquake insurance company. 

According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), flood is an excess of water on land that is normally dry, affecting two or more acres of land or two or more properties.

For many people living near a river, lake, or coastal front, flooding can be a frequent occurrence as part of the natural phenomenon of seasonal changes. 

However, risk of flood exists for those who live further inland as well, especially in developed residential areas where large amounts of water have nowhere to recede.

Below are some common causes for flooding that are not exclusive to flood zones:

FEMA has developed an official map called Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that displays different flood risk zones and high risk flood areas known as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA).

To find out if your home is in SFHA or other flood risk zones, you may enter your address in the FEMA website: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search  .

Note that more information will only show under the displayed map if your home is located in a flood risk zone.

  High risk areas

Zones that are designed in letters starting with A or V are SFHA  .

If your home is located in SFHA, your mortgage lender will require you to have flood insurance. In the process of obtaining flood insurance, you will be asked to provide a document called Elevation Certificate. 

Elevation Certificate is an official standardized NFIP form that documents important details of your home including various measurements of your house. This document can only be completed by a licensed professional land surveyor or engineer.

Before spending money to complete the certificate, there are a few ways to check if an existing certificate is already available:

• Contact your city to see if there is already an Elevation Certificate available for your address.  
• Check with the seller, builder, or developer to see if there is already a copy on file. 
• Look in your property deed. In many cases, the certificate is already included as part of the deed. 

  Moderate to low risk areas

Zones that are designated in letters starting with B, C, and X are moderate to minimal flood risk areas  .

Homes that are located in these areas typically are not required to carry flood insurance by mortgage lenders. 

Flood insurance policies are regulated by NFIP and the coverage options on these policies do not vary with different insurance companies. There are two types of coverage in flood insurance:

Building coverage offers protection for:

• Electrical and plumbing systems
• Furnaces and water heaters
• Refrigerators, cooking stoves, and built-in appliances like dishwashers
• Permanently installed carpeting
• Permanently installed cabinets, paneling, and bookcases
• Window blinds
• Foundation walls, anchorage systems, and staircases.
• Detached garages
• Fuel tanks, well water tanks and pumps, and solar energy equipment

Contents coverage offers protection for:

• Personal belongings such as clothing, furniture, and electronic equipment
• Curtains
• Washer and dryer
• Portable and window air conditioners
• Microwave oven
• Carpets not included in building coverage (e.g., carpet installed over wood floors)
• Valuable items such as original artwork and furs (up to $2,500)

According to the NFIP website  , these items are not covered by building or contents coverage: 

• Temporary housing and additional living expenses incurred while the building is being repaired or is unable to be occupied
• Property outside of an insured building. For example, landscaping, wells, septic systems, decks and patios, fences, seawalls, hot tubs, and swimming pools
• Financial losses caused by business interruption
• Currency, precious metals, stock certificates and other valuable papers
• Cars and most self-propelled vehicles, including their parts
• Personal property kept in basements

There are more than 50 insurance companies across the country that are approved providers in the NFIP flood insurance program. It is highly likely that your current insurance agent belongs to one of those insurance companies. 

If you prefer, you may also use this search tool provided by NFIP to find a flood insurance provider: https://www.floodsmart.gov/index.php/flood-insurance/providers  .

In many cases, to cover your own personal items and insure the structures inside of your unit, the answer is yes.

A condo insurance policy, also commonly known as HO6 insurance, is the property and liability insurance that supplements the condo association insurance and focuses solely to protect you, the unit owner. 

Here is an example: Your upstairs neighbors went on vacation and the water pipes connected to their washer had burst. Water flooded their unit, the public hallway areas, and your unit right below it. 

In this scenario, your condo association insurance will only cover the repair to the public hallway areas, and you will need to make a claim with your personal condo insurance to cover the damages to your unit.

One of the main coverages included in your homeowners policy is personal liability coverage  . This coverage is designed to protect you in the event that you are found liable for bodily harm or property damage to a third party.

Personal liability coverage extends to your immediate family and your pet, especially your dog. According to the Insurance Information Institute  , there were nearly 18,000 dog bite claims in 2019 and the average payout for a dog bite claim was $44,760. Dog bite claims remain as one of the top personal liability insurance claims year after year in the United States.

If your dog bites another person or dog, the personal liability coverage in your homeowners insurance policy will be the coverage used to pay for any related medical expenses. 

Given the statistical risk of dog bites, many insurance companies have specific guidelines regarding the breed of dogs in homeowners insurance policy. The most common breed restrictions are:  

• Akita
• Alaskan Malamute
• Chow Chow
• Doberman Pinscher
• German Shepherd
• Pit Bull
• Rottweiler
• Siberian Husky
• Wolf Hybrid

Depending on the insurance company, there may be an increase in homeowners insurance premium if an insured household has a dog from any of the breeds listed above.

In some extreme cases, insurance companies may even decline an application for homeowners insurance because of the dog breed. 

If you are looking to add a new furry friend to your family, we strongly recommend speaking to your insurance agent beforehand to find out if your homeowners policy has any dog breed restriction.