One of the most common questions new homeowners have is, "Does homeowner’s insurance cover natural catastrophes?" Natural catastrophes including events like fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, and tornado, and can cause extensive damage to both the interior and exterior of your home. United Insurance Services Inc. in Bluffdale, UT is here to help.

Here’s what you need to know:

Coverage Depends on the Specific Policy

Your coverage always depends on the language in your policy, so it’s important to discuss your needs with a licensed agent, who can ensure you have adequate coverage for your region. 

Many Natural Catastrophes are Covered

Damage caused to your home by these natural catastrophes is covered by most homeowner’s policies: 

• Fire – except in certain cases, damage caused by a house fire is typically covered
• Hail – most homeowner’s insurance policies cover damage caused by hail
• Wind – high winds can damage your shingles, siding, fascia, and more, and these damages are often covered by homeowner’s insurance
• Winter storms – while damage from winter storms is less common, it’s typically covered by homeowner’s insurance

Some Natural Catastrophes are Not Covered

Although coverage varies, these natural catastrophes are typically covered by a separate, additional policy and not by standard homeowner’s insurance: 

• Flood – except in very specific circumstances, flood damage is not generally covered by your homeowner’s insurance; you’ll need a separate policy to cover damage from flooding
• Hurricane – damage caused by a hurricane typically falls under hurricane insurance rather than homeowner’s insurance
• Earthquake – damage caused by an earthquake is typically covered by earthquake insurance, which you need in addition to homeowner’s insurance if you live in a high-risk area

To learn more or get your quote for homeowner’s insurance, visit us at United Insurance Services Inc. in Bluffdale, UT today. We can help ensure you have the right coverage for your property and region. 

Owning property in Bluffdale, UT, you want to be sure you’re protected from events that can create significant damage. Major storms, calamities, and the like are scary prospects, and it turns out that there’s a type of insurance made just for these events: catastrophe insurance.

But doesn’t your home insurance policy already cover a lot of this? How do the two work together? We get these questions a lot at United Insurance Services Inc., so we made a quick guide to help you understand common points of overlap between catastrophe insurance and other policies. As you read, remember that every policy is unique; these are only general comparisons.

Homeowner’s Policies

Catastrophe insurance is largely designed to cover gaps in typical home insurance policies. This includes natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. It also includes human disasters, like riots. In most cases, a home policy won’t have any overlap with catastrophe coverage, and that’s the point.

This largely holds true for commercial property insurance as well. The catastrophe policy is designed around traditional exceptions of coverage in property insurance. You won’t see very much overlap, if any, remembering that each policy is unique and will have specific differences in coverage.

Hazard Insurance

On the other hand, hazard insurance and catastrophe insurance tend to have a lot of overlap. With some providers, these are two names for the same insurance, but with many providers, there are subtle differences that are worth noting.

In general, hazard insurance is designed for the so-called acts of God. Major storms are a big example. Many home policies have limited or no coverage when it comes to “acts of God,” and hazard insurance is designed to make sure you are covered for those events.

Catastrophe insurance covers many of those same gaps, but it adds more coverage in terms of human-called catastrophes, like riots.

We Are Here To Help!

In all, catastrophe insurance is a great way to make sure your property in Bluffdale, UT, is covered from some of the most devastating events that can happen. If you would like to explore this idea in greater detail, contact your United Insurance Services Inc. representative today.