Has your home suffered damage from snow?

You may be unsure as to whether snow damage is covered by your Home Insurance.

With much of the country subject to severe snow fall over the past week, now may be the time you are checking your property and noticing damage as the snow thaws.

Whilst you may assume however, that damage suffered as a result of snow is covered under your insurance policy, this may not be as straight forward as it seems.

Most Policy’s cover  homeowners for Flood, Fire and Storm, and Snow Fall can constitute a storm where a high volume of snow falls over a relatively short period of time.  More likely however, in where snow gradually builds up over a number of days and damage is caused for example by the weight of the build-up of snow on the guttering.  In such a scenario Insurers’ would be unlikely to accept a claim under the insured event of ‘Storm’.

Several factors usually have to be present to be considered as ‘Storm’ under the terms of the Policy.  These include violent winds accompanied by heavy snow, rain or hail.  There are times when Storm damage can occur and damage property, when winds are not particularly strong but other extreme bad weather have been present.

The general rule to remember for Storm claims is that a one off extreme weather may event constitute a storm.

Insurers’ will also be considering the general maintenance of a building or roof for example to assess as to whether damage is due to the event of a Storm or rather due to general maintenance issues.

Even if the Claim does not fall under the criteria of Storm, you may have Accidental Damage cover on your policy which may mean the claim can be accepted under this by Insurers’

In the case of any incident, contact AJC Consultants for free, no obligation advice.

Sources:  Financial Ombudsman Service