Does Your Homeowners Insurance Cover Mold?
9/26/2019 (Permalink)
Have you noticed fungus growth in your home in Westchester, IL, and wondered whether or not your homeowners policy covers it? The answer is: maybe. There are situations where mold may be covered and others where it isn’t. Here are some factors that may determine coverage and what you can do about it.
What Insurance Companies Typically Cover
There is generally no mold coverage clause in a typical homeowners insurance policy, which may vary from commercial property or renter’s policies. Insurance companies expect homeowners to maintain and upkeep their property and only assume risk for covered perils. Covered perils are situations outside of a homeowner's control that occur through no fault of the homeowner. These include things such as the following:
- Lightning
- Fire
- Frozen pipes
- Vandalism
- Overflow of water from household items
- Impacts from snow, ice, or sleet
Fungus growth occurring from one of these situations where the impacted area is restored immediately by mold remediation specialists may be covered under your policy.
What They Don’t Cover
If water has been standing unnoticed for several days or weeks causing fungus to grow, you may find you are not covered. Additionally, if mold is caused by water seepage in an area that should have been updated, repaired or maintained, then you may not be covered by insurance. These would be your responsibility as the homeowner.
What You Can Do About It
You may be able to obtain a mold insurance rider as an addendum to your current insurance policy. This may provide additional coverage that your existing homeowners policy doesn’t. However, the insurance company may put a cap on the costs they will incur, or they may say they will cover certain costs but not others.
Fungus growth is a worrisome issue. Insurance companies generally cover damage occurring as a result of perils outside the control of the homeowner. They often don’t cover anything that could be the homeowner's fault. You may want to consider additional coverage as an addendum to your current policy to mitigate the risk if you have any concerns.