I have a HO3 insurance policy and had power outtage for 3 days, had food spoilage is that covered?

Question

I had a power outtage in my neighborhood for 3 days and when I returned I had food spoliage in my house. Would that be covered under my HO3 insurance policy?

Answer 1

Yes it will. It is considered a loss, even though its 'only' food. If the deductible is not waived though, you may not want to file a claim, since chances are, your deductible is more than the dollar value that may be placed on the food that you lost.

Answer 2

When people tell you that it isn't covered under an HO3 policy, that it not entirely true. It depends on your company. My current company will pay for up to $250 for food spoilage which is not subject to your deductible. As long as your power outage is considered a covered peril, I would file a claim.

The Midwest just saw over 1000 claims with food spoilage being one of the most common claims, several as HO3 policies.

Don't let people rule out these coverages for you. Don't let people GENERALIZE you policy to what they know or think. Your best bet is to call you agent's office and talk to them about it, they will know for sure!

Answer 3

It depends on what causes the power outage. If it's just a power surge, the answer is no.

If, though, it is the result of a loss that would be covered - a hurricane, for instance, then it IS covered, subject to your deductible.

In most cases, though, if the food spoilage is the only damage then it will be under your deductible. Even if it's slightly over, you're better off saving your insurance for bigger claims - the ones you really NEED your insurance to cover.

I always recommended (before retiring) that people get quotes to increase their deductible. In most cases the savings is well worth it. I would see people saving $200 a year (this is Florida) by going from a $500 to a $1000 deductible. That means if you have no claim for 2.5 years you wind up ahead of the game. And sometimes the savings was even more than that!

Answer 4

It's not covered on the standard HO3 policy, but it *might* be covered under an enhancement endorsement. You'll have to ask your agent, or pull your policy, to see if you've got either a package of enhancements, or an endorsement called, "refrigerated food spoilage" coverage.

Answer 5

Don't let people tell you NO.. it depends on your Company.. there are a lot of companies that add an HO+ or some fancy name for an extension of coverage as a carrot for you to go with their company...

I'm going to take a wild guess here.... you didn't read your policy, huh??

Call the claims office and report the loss.. figure out how much you lost in $$ and be prepared when they ask the questions.

Can you furnish them with a list of damaged items?? etc...

The best way to look at this is.. you're braced for NO.. so anything other than NO is a bonus...

Good Luck..

Answer 6

It would depend. Since coverage forms vary greatly from state to state that would make a huge difference in the interpretation of coverage. In Ohio, spoiled food would be covered in the event of a power surge causing damage to an appliance. Under certain circumstances (catastrophic) we will cover spoiled food do to ice storms, snow storms, etc.

However, if the outage is due to an act of your electric service provider, then no, we will not cover the loss. You would have to subrogate against your electric co-op.

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

On a standard ho3 it is covered if the power outage was caused by a covered peril on the insureds premises. If it a neighborhood power outage, no good. That doesn t mean your company hasn t modified it or added additional coverage

Answer 8

this is NOT covered under a standard HO3 unless you have that coverage endorsed to the policy.

Answer 9

Some companies include this coverage and some companies it is a coverage that you have to purchase. The company that I write my own homeowners with no longer offers it. You need to contact your company to find out if they do offer it.

Answer 10

These claims kill me!!!!!

Yes you can claim it. Yes your rates will rise if your claim is paid. Just toss it out and buy more food. This is NOT what insurance is for.