Does My Homeowner’s Insurance Cover Damage from Mold?

Homeowner’s insurance is supposed to cover the costs incurred when damage occurs in your home and needs fixing.

They can be really helpful in many situations including fires, lightning, vandalism, and theft.

Having a backup in such cases makes you heave a sigh of relief. However, it is not always clear what can be considered the damage to your home insurance company and this uncertainty is extended to mold.

What is Mold?

Mold is a pesky, microscopic fungus that grows in multicellular filaments called hyphae.

They are an extremely annoying organism with an ability to grow anywhere. Through spores, it quickly multiplies, leaving behind a terrible stench and destruction to your house or building.

Should Mold Damage Qualify for Homeowner’s Insurance Coverage?

In short, the answer is yes.

Mold is very closely related to water damage, including burst pipes within walls, leaky roofs, etc. and most of the homeowners’ insurance covers it.

ALso, mold is a secondary problem of water damage and is just as destructive as fire, although much slower on its path to destruction.

Mold can render a whole house unfit for occupancy. It can completely destroy drywall and lead to the need for their replacement.

Not to mention, calling a water damage restoration company means you have to spend from your own pocket. Therefore, while choosing an insurance company you should keep your eyes peeled to make sure that they offer coverage for mold.

Related – What Is The Average Cost Of Mold Remediation?

Does Home Insurance Cover Mold Damage?

Most home insurance policies do not cover mold unless it is directly related to a “covered peril”. This means they will only cover mold damage if it occurs as a secondary problem that stemmed from damage that the policy covers.

Such as burst pipes for instance. If your pipes burst and your insurance policy covers that, any mold damage that is a direct result of the burst pipes, will be covered as well.

Otherwise, home insurance policies don’t cover mold caused by humidity or flooding, or leaks that could have been avoided. Insurance companies expect that you take care of your home properly to avoid such mold growths.

Thankfully there are some exceptions.

How to Check if Your Home Insurance Policy Covers Mold Damage?

To know if your insurance company covers mold damage or not, look over your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if there is any clause or mention of mold claims anywhere.

Your company, like some others, may offer limited coverage for claims concerning mold. Your home insurance might have been a bit pricier to cover mold claims.

If you don’t have mold damage covered, you could simply buy an endorsement to your insurance policy to add mold damage coverage to your package. Endorsements are additional coverage deals that can be bought and added to your regular home insurance.

How to File a Mold Damage Claim?

Take pictures to document everything from the moment you sight the problem. And then, simply file the claim by calling your insurance company.

Make sure you remedy the situation as much as you can, your company expects you to be helpful and actively trying to avoid further damage.

Go ahead and stop any visible leaks. Clean up the water, take out rugs and other things which could soak water and breed mold. Wash the affected areas and dry them off with fans if mold is not visible.

If the destruction is huge, you may even call a water damage restoration company to deal with everything from the get-go.

Give detailed information to your insurance company on what happened, what was damaged, and what you’ve done to alleviate the situation. It would make the process much easier, not to mention faster. Keep all documentation like pictures of the damage and receipts for all payments you made regarding the problem.

You should even keep the damaged objects regardless of whether or not you have replaced them (as they are all evidence and the insurance agent might want to see them).

Takeaway

Mold damage is a real issue that requires money to take care of. As such, it is important to know whether or not you are covered by your insurance.

Check this today, and make sure that you will not be taken by surprise if mold damage does occur. You may buy mold coverage as an addition to your homeowner’s insurance if you don’t have it already.

Still unsure if you have coverage or if you need to file a claim? You can write to us at contact@dryeffect.com and we will give you a free consultation!!