Protecting your home and belongings from landslides and mudslides.
Many homeowners are under the misconception that their homeowners insurance covers all mass-destruction events. However, this is often not the case when dealing with standard home insurance. Reports of heavy rain, mudflow, and earth movement may have homeowners wondering if their policy covers damage from landslides and mudslides.
Typically, homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage from landslides or mudslides. This is because they are both considered a form of “earth movement”, and like an earthquake, they are generally excluded from a standard homeowners insurance policy. What’s more, mudslides and landslides are not covered by earthquake insurance or flood insurance.
Keep in mind that The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides coverage under their policy for mudflow, but not mudslides. Although you may not think there is a difference, a mudslide is usually characterized by an entire hill collapsing or sliding. Mudflow is “a river of liquid and flowing mud on the surfaces of normally dry land areas, as when the earth is carried by a current of water.”
In order to protect your home from a landslide or mudslide, you would need to take out what is called a “Difference in Conditions” (DIC) policy. A DIC is often called “gap coverage” as it fills in all the perils a standard residential or commercial property insurance policy won’t cover. DIC’s can be taken out to cover floods, earthquakes, landslides, and mudslides. Talk to your insurer about how to obtain such a policy to protect your property.
If you don’t have flood insurance coverage already, talk to your insurer about whether you could benefit from this coverage.
When you’re ready to secure reliable insurance policies for your property, contact the team Lou Aggetta Insurance Services in Pleasant Hill. We are ready to help you find quality coverage today.