Does Home Insurance Cover Landscaping?

Does Home Insurance Cover Landscaping? Good question.

It can take years to get your landscaping just the way you want it, making your yard like a vacation getaway — one that does not require air travel. The good news is that many home insurance policies can help cover the cost of damage to landscaping. However, there are some rules and limits to coverage. The way coverage applies can also vary from one insurer to the next.

Generally, home insurance policies can help pay to replace certain types of landscaping, such as trees, shrubs, and plants. But coverage depends on the way the damage occurred. If the new brand of weed killer you bought kills your lawn too, your policy cannot help. Certain risks — like hail, wind, ice, snow, insects, or pests — probably are not covered either. Risks like fire, theft, or vandalism may be covered, however. Keep in mind that coverage for landscaping can vary from one insurer to the next.

If you have a fence, shed, gazebo, pool house, or even a fancy wooden bridge over the koi pond you built in your backyard, a different section of your policy addresses risks to these structures. Your coverage for other structures can help cover the cost of rebuilding if any of these structures is damaged due to a covered risk, such as fire or a falling tree.

A home insurance policy is designed to protect your home against the unexpected. Normal wear and tear or damage due to neglect are not typically covered. As homeowners, we all have to play our part in keeping up with maintenance. Proper upkeep can help you avoid many risks to your landscaping, but your insurance policy can help in some cases as well.

If you have questions about how your coverage works or have not reviewed your policy recently, connect with us to schedule a policy review.

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