You are standing next to another kid with a giant wad of pink bubblegum in your mouth, when suddenly, you accidentally swallow it. “Oh nooooo,” you think, “this bubblegum is going to stay in my stomach for the next 5-7 years, if not FOREVER!” Turns out this is just another one of life’s myths told to us as kids. A myth is not a lie, exactly, it’s more a mistruth being retold and spread as fact.
Information surrounding homeowners insurance doesn’t escape home-ownership folklore and carries many home insurance myths. Rest easy as we debunk homeowners insurance myths to keep you out of a sticky situation.
Homeowners Insurance Myth #1: My Homeowners Insurance Policy Covers My House Even if I am Using it as a Vacation Rental or Home Exchange.
The Holiday is playing on one of your TV streaming services and you start to ponder, “What if we participated in a home sharing exchange and swap houses with a stranger in a different country for a week?” Although the adventure might be fun you need to determine what your homeowners insurance policy covers.
Typically, a homeowners insurance policy covers your dwelling in the event of these perils: fire, wind, theft, vandalism, lightning, and other natural disasters. You can also add onto your basic Coverage A (dwelling) policy, to cover Other Structures and Personal Liability.
Use of your home for other purposes than personal residential living such as a home swapping or vacation renting could put you at risk without the proper homeowners insurance coverage. So before you runoff to Surrey, England to stay in a warm cottage in a home exchange adventure – read your homeowners insurance policy’s fine print, check with your agent, and consider converting to a DP-3 landlord policy to keep you covered while you are on vacation bliss.
Homeowners Insurance Myth #2: My Standard Homeowners Insurance Policy Will Cover My Home-based Business.
The incredible freedom brought to the workforce with today’s latest technology means more and more people are working from home with their own businesses and no longer need to rent a traditional office space. With extensive opportunities to become a small business owner, you are now primarily responsible for making your own livelihood. Part of that responsibility is ensuring you have the right homeowners insurance as well as enough coverage. Your homeowners insurance policy Coverage C (Personal Property) may cover some of your personal contents but it may not be enough, to cover, all of your business expenses. And in many instances a typical homeowners policy may void coverage should there be a business running out of the home.
Contact your homeowners insurance agent and discuss if your current homeowners insurance policies cover:
- Business equipment- computers, printers, floral refrigerators, t-shirt presses
- Product- flowers, cookie cutters, handmade suncatchers, printed photography
- Liability- clients visiting your home, delivery persons, children at daycare
- Loss of business income
Depending on your home business venture, your agent will most likely recommend a home business endorsement called a Permitted Incidental Occupancy endorsement. This endorsement provides coverage for certain businesses conducted on the property, for example tax consultants, writers/editors, teachers offering in-home tutoring or creative arts lessons, pet groomers, cake decorators, and photographers.
Homeowners Insurance Myth #3: My Homeowners Policy will Cover Mold and Mildew Found During Renovations.
Congratulations! You bought a new home! You are so excited about the possibilities to renovate the house, so it really feels like yours. First thing to go – floor to ceiling mirrors covering all four walls in the dining room as well as the peninsula counter in the kitchen. As you pry the mirror off the wall, you catch a whiff of something wet, and when you look down behind the mirror you see 3 ft by 6 ft of solid black mold. It turns out there was a leak repaired by the previous homeowners, but the water damage was not mitigated and the mold and mildew grew in the warm moist recesses between the drywall and the mirror.
And it gets worse- your homeowners insurance Coverage A (dwelling) may limit or not cover mold and mildew remediation and repair as a result of neglect, as in a leaking pipe between the cabinets and the walls.
There are a few things you can do in the future though:
- In addition to a standard home inspection, also hire a licensed, bonded, and insured certified mold inspector prior to purchase.
- Contact your homeowners insurance agent and discuss adding on to your homeowners insurance policy:
- Limited Fungi, Wet or Dry Rot, Yeast, or Bacteria Coverage Increased Limits (Sections 1 and 2)- depending on the circumstances this may pay for loss to covered personal property, bodily injury, and property damage due to mold
Homeowners Insurance Myth #4: My Homeowners Insurance Policy Covers My Large 2-Story Screened in Patio and Pool.
A common Floridian statement is, “The summer may be hot, but I don’t have to shovel snow in the winter.” Florida’s climate from Key West to the Pensacola, providing residents with 663 miles of beaches and about 4,500 islands, allows residents to live outside using their screened enclosure as an extension of their home. At Florida Peninsula Insurance Company we automatically include your screen enclosure coverage up to $10,000 in damages covered in our standard homeowners policy and you can add more coverage, when needed, up to $50,000.
How do you know you have enough coverage to repair or replace a damaged screen enclosure?
Take in a full assessment of your screen enclosure. There are several things that are involved in screen enclosure repair like the extent of damage, size of the repair, material type, and cost of labor. If you think you need more coverage, we also have that available for you called Screened Enclosure, Carport and Awning Coverage (HO-3 Only) and it may be increased in increments of $10,000 up to a maximum of $50,000. You can also read more in our blog “Screen Enclosures Enlarge Your Living Space; Protect Them With Insurance.”
Homeowners Insurance Myth #5: If I Don’t Live in a High-Risk Flood Area, I Don’t Need Flood Insurance.
If you live in an area where there is rain, you should have flood insurance. Most people think a flood looks like images of trucks floating down the street when a nearby river breeches and overflows or hurricane footage of storm surges, however, flooding can happen in average residential neighborhoods nowhere near a body of water. Statistics state nearly one-third of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims are from outside the high-risk zones. Perhaps you recall the flooding in Fort Lauderdale, FL during April 2023. The area received almost twenty-six inches of rain in a 24-hour period and caused extensive damage affecting the city’s 180,000 residents and closing the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for over 36 hours. In fact, the flooding was so detrimental, the National Weather Service Miami issued the first Flash Flood Emergency alert ever for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area.
Your standard homeowners insurance policy does not cover flooding, or for that matter, storm surge, both considered “rising water.” FEMA has put together a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the waters of adding flood insurance to further protect your home and personal property. You can also count on a Florida Peninsula Insurance Company agent to help you answer your questions on adding flood insurance to your policy.
The Sweet Truth About Home Insurance
By uncovering the truth behind these common misconceptions, you can make better decisions about protecting your investments. Stay informed by following us for more home insurance resources and we can tackle homeowners insurance myths together.
Already a Florida Peninsula Insurance Company policyholder? Contact your agent to review your policy now and make any needed changes. Not yet insured with us? Get a quote online now to get started toward putting together a homeowners policy perfect for your unique circumstances.
