Is My Screen Enclosure Covered Under My Insurance Policy?
It has been a growing trend in insurance policies to have an endorsement for carports, pool cages, and screen enclosures. The endorsement listed on the declarations page of your policy leads you to believe you are covered.
However, sometimes the specific “Carport(s), Pool Cage(s) and Screen Enclosure(s)” endorsement actually fails to cover all claims. Therefore, read your policy carefully to ensure that you know exactly how you are covered.
Three things you should look for when figuring out if your screen enclosure is covered:
First
Start off by looking at the declarations page of your insurance policy. Sometimes there is an additional endorsement for carports, pool cages, and screen enclosures. Please be aware that you need to read this endorsement carefully to check and see if the endorsement has any exceptions to what is, and is not, covered damage.
For example, your pool enclosure may be covered in the event of lighting, thunderstorm, or even animal damage but not covered for hurricanes.
Second
If you have the carport, pool cage, and screen enclosure endorsement, check to see if it requires a separate and distinct policy limit for those particular structures.
What is a policy limit? It is the maximum benefit an insurance company will pay a policyholder if/when an insured event occurs. For example, you have $100,000.00 policy limit under Coverage A – Dwelling. This means that if a covered event caused damage to you dwelling, you would only be able to recover a maximum of $100,000.00 for that damage from your insurance company.
Sometimes, the carport, pool cage, and screen enclosure endorsements require a separate and distinct limit set out in the declarations page. This limit is mandatory for the endorsement to be effective. If this is one of the requirements under your policy, check to see if there is a separate limit for that endorsement in the declarations page.
Third
If you do not see the carports, pool cages, and screen enclosures endorsement on your declarations page, do not assume that you are covered by Coverage A – Dwelling, or Coverage B – Other Structures.
Be sure to read your insurance policy line by line in order to find out whether or not your carports, pool cages, and screen enclosures are covered.
COHEN LAW GROUP
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