Dwelling Coverage Overview
What is Dwelling Coverage?
Dwelling coverage, sometimes called "dwelling insurance," is the part of your homeowner's insurance policy that may help pay for the rebuilding or the repair of the physical structure of your home if it's damaged by a covered peril.
Here's a look at what dwelling insurance covers, what types of perils and structures are not covered, and how deductibles and limits work if you have to make a claim on your dwelling insurance.
Although a lot of people think of their dwelling as just the physical structure that they live in, dwelling coverage may help protect more than that. Dwelling insurance typically helps cover the home you live in plus attached structures. What this means is that a structure like your garage may also be covered by dwelling insurance, as long as the garage is attached to your house.
If damage to an attached structure occurs as the result of a covered hazard, your homeowners insurance may help cover the costs to repair or rebuild it. If it's attached to your home, a deck or front and back porch may also be considered a part of your dwelling, and therefore may be covered by the dwelling coverage in your homeowners insurance policy.
Covered Perils
There are certain hazards, or perils, that are covered by most standard homeowners insurance policies. While the coverage can vary from state to state or from one geographical region to another, homeowners policies typically help cover damage from the following events:
While these hazards are covered by dwelling insurance, you should always check your own homeowners insurance policy to determine what it covers.
What Does Dwelling Insurance Cover?
Although a lot of people think of their dwelling as just the physical structure that they live in, dwelling coverage may help protect more than that. Dwelling insurance typically helps cover the home you live in plus attached structures. What this means is that a structure like your garage may also be covered by dwelling insurance, as long as the garage is attached to your house.
If damage to an attached structure occurs as the result of a covered hazard, your homeowners insurance may help cover the costs to repair or rebuild it. If it's attached to your home, a deck or front and back porch may also be considered a part of your dwelling, and therefore may be covered by the dwelling coverage in your homeowners insurance policy.
What Isn't Covered by Dwelling Coverage?
A standard homeowners insurance policy typically does not cover floods, earthquakes, sewer backups or damage that occurs from a lack of maintenance. You may be able to buy additional coverage or a separate insurance policy to help cover some of these additional perils. For example, you may be able to add water backup coverage to your existing homeowners insurance policy to help cover sewer backups. Or, you may be able to buy flood insurance to help protect your home against flooding. Talk to your insurance agent to find out what options are available to you.
The dwelling coverage in a homeowners policy is different than the building property protection in a condo insurance policy. If your condo is damaged by a covered peril, building property protection helps pay for repairs to the walls of your condo unit and its interior. Your condo association's insurance policy may help cover other parts of the building, such as the roof, elevator, basement, courtyards or walkways.
How is the Dwelling Limit Calculated?
Your Dwelling limit is the Replacement Cost of your house. This number is a little different from the appraised value, or the market value of your home, because it's how much it would cost to built a home similar to yours in your area. The market value of your home is how much the house, and land it sits on, would sell for in the current market. This value can fluctuate, and can vary drastically depending on where your home is located. Follow this guide to learn more about how the dwelling limit for your home is calculated: