HOW A HOMEOWNERS POLICY ACTUALLY WORKS
- • A standard HO-3 policy covers your house on an "open perils" basis: everything is covered unless an exclusion takes it away.
- • The exclusions do the real work: flood and storm surge, earth movement, mold caps, wear and tear, long-term leaks.
- • Hurricane wind is covered, but behind a separate hurricane deductible of 2-10% of your dwelling limit.
- • Rising water is never covered by a homeowners policy. That takes a separate flood policy.
- • Most denials are not about missing coverage. They are the carrier arguing your loss belongs on the excluded list.
Find your damage. Find your coverage.
What a standard HO-3 covers, and what it carves out
The dwelling side of an HO-3 is "open perils": every cause of loss is covered unless an exclusion removes it. The left band is the promise. The right band is where hurricane claims go to die, and each row links to the guide that maps the fight.
Includes hurricane wind, behind the 2-10% hurricane deductible.
The original perils, dwelling and contents alike.
Accidental discharge, the water damage, not the worn pipe.
A wind-felled tree through the roof is a covered wind loss.
Unless a vacancy clause has quietly switched them off.
Abrupt falling-down caused by specified perils, not sagging.
All rising water. Covered only by a separate NFIP or private flood policy.
Sinkhole, landslide, settling. Florida law carves back narrow exceptions.
Often capped by a sublimit (commonly around $10,000 on many forms), or excluded unless it follows a covered peril.
The carrier’s favorite reclassification for roof damage.
Water leaking over 14+ days, even when the source was covered.
Code-upgrade costs beyond the endorsement’s percentage.
Most hurricane coverage fights are an argument about which column a loss belongs in, not whether the damage is real. Each row links to the guide that maps the fight.
Based on typical ISO HO-3 policy language. Forms vary by carrier and state. Florida carves back catastrophic ground cover collapse (Fla. Stat. § 627.706) and mandates hurricane-deductible options (§ 627.701). Read your policy.
Three ways a covered loss becomes a fight
Cause disputes
The peril is covered but the carrier attributes the damage to one that isn’t: wind becomes wear and tear, a burst pipe becomes long-term seepage, hurricane rain becomes "maintenance."
Wind vs. wear, dismantled → 02Exclusion disputes
Two policies split one loss and each carrier points at the other: wind vs. surge, flood vs. pipe, storm vs. storm. The exclusion language, not the damage, decides who pays.
The surge-vs-flood war → 03Money disputes
Coverage is conceded but the check is short: percentage deductibles, mold sublimits, actual-cash-value holdbacks, matching refusals, and depreciation math.
The holdback, explained →Coverage turns on the peril and the policy
Whether a loss is paid depends on two things: what caused it and which policy answers. Wind and its consequences fall under the homeowners policy, so a torn roof and the rain that follows through the opening are the carrier's problem. Rising water is different. Flood and storm surge sit outside the homeowners policy and are covered only by a separate flood policy through the NFIP or a private carrier. A single hurricane can trigger both books at once, and can leave part of a loss with no policy behind it. Wind losses also carry a separate hurricane deductible, set as a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat figure.
The recurring fight is which cause the carrier assigns. Wind versus water decides whether the homeowners or flood policy pays. Sudden versus gradual decides whether a water-damage claim is covered or written off as wear and tear. Anti-concurrent causation clauses let carriers deny an entire loss when one contributing cause is excluded. Some perils are covered only within tight sub-limits or by endorsement, so mold and sinkhole claims often turn on the add-ons a policy carries; the denials library shows how those arguments get answered. If a claim came back denied or paid short, document the loss, work the claims steps, and get an independent scope before you accept a number. A licensed public adjuster can price the full damage on your side. Every peril runs on a deadline fixed by statute and policy. Start with the free review below.
Told it isn't covered? Get a second read on the policy.
Upload the denial letter and your declarations page. You'll get a straight answer on which exclusion the carrier is leaning on, and whether your loss actually sits on the covered side of the line.
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Coverage summaries, policy-language quotations, dollar figures, deadlines, and chart examples throughout this site are general information based on typical or standard policy forms and are illustrative only: they are not a quote, a guarantee of coverage, or a promise of any outcome. Every insurance policy is different: your own policy, endorsements, and state law control, so read your policy and confirm current statutes. Weather imagery courtesy of NOAA, the National Hurricane Center, and the National Weather Service. Nothing on this site is legal advice; consult an attorney about your specific claim.
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