How does house insurance cover the roof?
Short answer. The roof on your house is covered under the dwelling part of your policy, which pays to repair or replace it after sudden damage like hail, wind, fire or a falling tree. Roofs on detached garages and sheds fall under other structures coverage, belongings damaged by a roof leak fall under personal property, and extra living costs while repairs make the house unlivable fall under loss of use.
The four coverage parts that touch a roof
- Dwelling (often called Coverage A): the house and anything attached, including the roof, porch roof and attached garage. This is where most roof claims are paid.
- Other structures (Coverage B): detached garages, sheds, workshops and fences. The limit is commonly 10 percent of the dwelling limit, so check yours if you have a large outbuilding.
- Personal property (Coverage C): furniture, electronics and clothing damaged by water from a roof leak. For rain damage to belongings, most policies require that wind or hail first created an opening.
- Loss of use (Coverage D): hotel, meals and other extra costs if the house is unlivable after a covered loss, such as a tree through the roof.
What the dwelling coverage protects against
Most homeowners policies cover the house against all risks of sudden physical loss except those excluded. For roofs, the covered causes that matter are wind, hail, lightning, fire, falling trees and the weight of ice and snow.
What it does not
- Wear, deterioration and old age
- Poor installation or defective materials
- Animals, rodents and insects
- Flood and earth movement
- Long-term leaks and the rot and mold they cause
Roof-specific terms
Endorsements can change how the roof is paid, for example actual cash value or a payment schedule for older roofs, or a cosmetic exclusion for metal. See roof replacement coverage, payment schedules and cosmetic exclusions.