- With the exception of HO-1 policies, homeowner's insurance provides a policyholder with protection against damage or loss resulting from 16 perils. The perils covered by most homeowner's policies include: fire or lightning; windstorm or hail; explosion; riot or civil commotion; aircraft; vehicles; smoke; vandalism or mischief; theft; volcanic eruption; falling objects; weight of snow, sleet or ice; accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam from a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, or automatic fire-protective sprinkler system or household appliance; sudden and accidental tearing-apart, cracking, burning or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, an air conditioning or automatic fire-protection system; freezing of a plumbing, heating, air conditioning or automatic fire-protective system or household appliance; and sudden and accidental damage from artificially generated electrical current, with some exceptions. In comparison, HO-1 policies only guard against damage or ruination that result from the first 10 perils listed.
- If a homeowner's policy includes coverage for spoiled food, the spoilage must occur as the result of a covered event for an insured to receive payment. If a homeowner's policy does not include coverage for perishable food, his insurer may allow him to purchase an endorsement to his policy to secure this type of coverage when he enters into a homeowner's insurance contract.
- Standard homeowner's insurance policies pay to repair or replace the structures on an insured's property if a covered event damages or destroys them, up to an amount identified in the contract. A policy generally pays to rebuild an insured's home up to either the home's replacement cost or actual value. A policy pays a set percentage, usually about 10 percent, of the amount of coverage extended to an insured's residence to repair or rebuild the other structures on the property.
Homeowner's insurance also pays to repair or replace the personal property of an insured and his family members if the items experience damage or ruination because of a covered peril up to a limit that is usually between 40 percent and 70 percent of the policy's face amount. - A typical homeowner's policy includes coverage for the trees, plants and shrubs on an insured's property up to an amount equal to 5 percent of the insurance on the policyholder's residence. If, for instance, an insured gathers perishable food such as apples from a tree on his property and the tree suffers damage from a covered event like a lightning strike, his homeowner's policy will pay up to $500 to replace the tree. Typical policies do not provide coverage for plants, trees or shrubs against damage or destruction caused by wind or disease, however.
