Many homeowners take great pride in their landscaping. You have creative liberty to add as many different colors and textures to your yard as you please. From annual and perennial flowers to shrubs, trees and mulch, there’s a lot of time, money, decision making and hard work that goes into beautiful landscaping.
Whether it’s a fallen tree on your property or storm damage to your landscaping, it can be unclear if landscaping is covered by your homeowners insurance. We have answers to help you protect your yard with the right landscaping insurance coverage.
What is landscaping insurance?
Typically, the insurance industry refers to landscaping insurance as what landscapers and lawn care businesses purchase in case of financial loss or risks like accidents or injuries.
For homeowners, you will find your landscaping insurance coverage outlined in your homeowners insurance policy.
What landscaping insurance coverage is included in your homeowners policy?
Most things you would expect to be covered for your house in traditional home insurance policies also applies to landscaping. For example, most homeowners insurance policies will cover replacement costs for plants, trees, shrubs and lawns impacted by theft, vandalism, fire, lightning or damage caused by someone else’s vehicle.
Keep in mind, insurance policies do limit the coverage per item for trees, shrubs, plants and lawns damaged from covered perils (like fire) up to around five percent of the dwelling coverage. Dwelling coverage is already part of your homeowners insurance and it handles the costs to repair or rebuild damaged structures on your property for protected risks outlined in your policy.
Do fallen trees count for landscaping coverage?
Some homeowners insurance policies can include fallen tree coverage. This means the insurance policy can help cover the repair costs of any structures the tree landed on, such as your home, shed or fence. Tree removal is also commonly included if it damages a structure up to a limit. It’s important to note tree replacement costs are typically not covered. Additionally, tree removal expenses may or may not be covered if there was not damage to a structure based upon your individual policy.
While there are many variables that can damage or destroy your landscaping, it’s important to make sure you get the protection your yard needs. Check your declarations page (the document with your insurance policy details) and review your home insurance with your independent insurance agent to get more information on what your policy covers.
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Is weather-related damage covered in your policy?
It depends. Your carrier may offer additional coverage you can add to your policy specifically for landscaping insurance coverage. It may help provide extra protection for landscaping or pay for tree debris removal after a storm. This could be a great option for you to cover your tree debris removal for causes such as sleet, hail, wind or the weight of ice and snow. Flood damage is usually excluded as flood insurance may cover the damages.
Does homeowners insurance cover pest damage to landscaping?
Yes, but it’s likely your homeowners insurance will not cover the full replacement cost. You may be able to increase your existing landscaping insurance coverage limits. Expanding your dwelling protection can be a great solution for your yard.
Talk to your agent about your landscaping insurance coverage
Integrity Insurance offers different tiers of homeowners insurance to meet your landscaping insurance coverage needs. The higher the coverage, the higher allotted replacement cost per plant. Tree removal and debris removal coverage is also available. You choose the coverage tier that works best for your needs and budget.
Talk to your independent insurance agent to learn more about your options for landscaping insurance coverage.
This article is for informational and suggestion purposes only. Implementing these suggestions does not guarantee coverage. If any policy coverage descriptions in this article conflict with the language in the policy, the language in the policy applies. For full details on Integrity’s home insurance coverages and discounts, contact your local independent agent.
Sources:
- Insurance Information Institute (III)