One of our customers in Cocoa Beach, Florida called in recently ask if their dock was insured. The short answer is:
It depends
Let’s take a deeper dive on this topic because there are a couple things you need to know.
What type of policy do you have?
If you have a home insurance policy in the state of Florida and the policy is written on form HO3, then you have what is called an ‘All Risk’ policy. This means that any direct loss you sustain to your property will typically be covered unless the loss is listed as an exclusion in your policy.
Do you have coverage for other structures?
An HO3 home insurance policy generally includes 10% of your dwelling coverage to cover other structures not attached your house. These can be items such as a detached garage, a shed, a fence and you guessed it….docks.
Check your policy to see if you have “Coverage B – other structures” on your home insurance policy. This is the place where docks would generally be covered. And while this coverage is most times included in a home insurance policy – this coverage could have been reduced or eliminated altogether when you originally purchased your policy to save money – so doublecheck your coverages.
What about waves and storm surge – is this covered?
The last thing you need to know is that the exclusions section of an HO3 policy has an exclusion for losses from surface water, waves, tidal waves, tsunami, tides, tidal water, and storm surge. Well if you have a dock, this is probably the only coverage you want…..but unfortunately, it’s an exclusion.
Let’s recap
Three things to recap dock coverage – pull out your home insurance policy and see if it’s an HO3 policy, if it is great! Now check “Coverage B – other structures” to see if the dollar amount listed is sufficient, if it is great! Now go to the “Section 1 – Exclusions Section” to get informed as to what’s excluded from your home insurance policy.
Want more tips like this?
Click Here for an article that can help you if your looking to get a home insurance quote or Here to have Hurricane Deductibles explained.
Did you know we’re building amazing technology that will simplify insurance shopping? Want to learn more – Click Here and let us know!
Join the Chrinco.com community and follow us as we not only provide insurance tips to consumers but are also developing a new way to shop for insurance. Join