What storm damage can you claim on house insurance?
Short answer. You can claim damage from wind, hail, lightning, falling trees and limbs, and the weight of ice, snow or sleet, along with the rain that comes in through openings those events create. Standard house insurance does not cover flood or surface water, earth movement, or damage from long term wear that a storm merely revealed.
Storm damage that is usually covered
- Wind including tornadoes and straight line winds: roofing, siding, fences, screens
- Hail: shingles, gutters, vents, skylights, siding, window screens, AC condenser fins
- Lightning: fire, damaged electrical systems and appliances from a direct strike
- Falling objects: trees and limbs on the house or other structures
- Weight of ice, snow or sleet: structural damage and collapsed gutters
- Rain through a storm opening: interior water damage when wind or hail first opened the roof or wall
Storm damage that usually is not
- Flood and surface water: rising water, runoff into the house, overflowing creeks. Requires separate flood insurance.
- Earth movement: mudslides and soil shifting, even if rain triggered them.
- Water backup through drains, unless you have that endorsement.
- Wind driven rain that came in without any physical damage, under many policies.
- Pre-existing wear the storm exposed, like a worn roof that started leaking.
- Cosmetic damage, if your policy has that exclusion. See cosmetic damage exclusions.
Do not forget the rest of the property
Storm claims often focus on the roof and miss gutters, screens, siding, fences, mailboxes and the AC unit. One storm is one occurrence and usually one deductible, so list everything together. See the after a storm checklist and Robust Roofing's guide to what else hail damages.