The whole purpose of homeowners insurance is to make families financially whole again after a significant loss. Being covered for incidences like theft and hail storms is standard, but what about damages to major appliances and your HVAC? It’s important to know what coverage is included and what additional options are available for some of your home’s most expensive and vital mechanisms.
Generally, insurance policies will cover unforseeable misfortunes that occur to your heating and cooling system. Common examples include a storm that qiptes out your air conditioning unit or a pipe that freezes and damages your HVAC. Wear and tear is not covered, however. HVACs and major appliances will wear down and eventually stop functioning properly. This is the responsibility of the homeowner to replace and not the insurance company. Your best homeowners insurance policy against wear and tear is to sign up for a preventive maintenance plan through Owens, which ensures your systems are running in peak condition throughout the year.
Many insurance companies will offer “breakdown insurance.” This is intended to cover the gap in coverage between a major loss and an unexpected mechanical or electrical failure not caused by wear and tear or corrosion. These add-on policies are generally offered for as little as a few dollars per month. There are often viewed as a replacement for expensive or confusing extended warranties offered by the manufacturer. Whether you should purchase an add-on policy like this depends on several variables: the details of the policy, the value of your appliances being covered, your risk aversion, and, of course, cost. Make sure to read the fine print, ask your agent any and all questions you have, and don’t buy anything until you know exactly what you are getting.