Does insurance cover tornado damage?
Short answer. Yes, tornado damage is covered by standard homeowners policies as windstorm damage, from missing shingles to a destroyed house, along with debris removal, temporary living expenses and damaged belongings, subject to your limits and deductible. No special policy is needed, but serious losses test whether your dwelling limit and code upgrade coverage are high enough.
What a tornado claim can pay for
- Dwelling: roof, framing, walls, windows and everything attached to the house.
- Other structures: fences, sheds and detached garages.
- Personal property: furniture, clothing and electronics.
- Loss of use: hotel or rental costs and other extra living expenses while the home is repaired.
- Debris removal: clearing the wreckage of covered property.
- Trees: removal when they hit covered structures, within limits.
When the damage is severe
Big losses expose two common gaps:
- Underinsurance: if the dwelling limit is below the true rebuild cost, you can come up short. Check that your limit reflects current construction costs every year.
- Code upgrades: rebuilding to current code can cost more than restoring what was there. Standard forms often include ordinance or law coverage of 10 percent of the dwelling limit; some policies offer more by endorsement.
Tornadoes in Georgia
Georgia sees tornadoes in every season, most often in spring, and also from tropical systems in late summer and fall. Many North Georgia roof claims come from weaker tornadoes and straight line winds that peel shingles and drop trees rather than flatten homes.
After a tornado
- Stay out of damaged structures until they are safe.
- Photograph everything before cleanup.
- Cover openings and keep receipts.
- Be wary of contractors who arrive from out of town asking you to sign over your insurance proceeds; Georgia restricts assignments of insurance proceeds within one year of a declared natural disaster.
More: code upgrade coverage, storm chaser scams and wind claims.