Homeowners insurance

What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover? Roof, Water, and Mold

By the YourHomeCosts editorial team. Last updated October 29, 2026. General information, not financial, legal, or insurance advice.

A standard homeowners policy packages six coverages. On the sample HO-3 form published by the Insurance Information Institute, they are Coverage A, the dwelling; Coverage B, other structures; Coverage C, personal property; Coverage D, loss of use; Coverage E, personal liability; and Coverage F, medical payments to others. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners describes the same six jobs, and it says you are paid only when a covered peril causes the loss.

YourHomeCosts is not a licensed insurance agent or broker. This page is general information, not insurance, legal, or financial advice. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

How we checked this: the NAIC guide, the Insurance Information Institute chart and sample HO-3, FEMA, FloodSmart, Maryland, Texas, Wisconsin, Nevada, the CFPB, and 12 CFR 1024.17 were read on October 29, 2026. The example uses made-up amounts.

Educational information only. This is not financial, tax, legal, lending, insurance, or appraisal advice. Loan documents, state law, and your servicer or assessor control. Confirm every figure before you act.

What does a standard homeowners policy cover?

The NAIC consumer guide fills in the six labels. Dwelling coverage includes plumbing, wiring, heating, and built-in air-conditioning. Other structures include fences and detached garages. Personal property includes belongings away from home. Loss of use pays extra living costs during a covered repair. Liability applies if you are legally responsible for another person’s injury or property damage. Medical payments pays other people’s bills, including injuries caused by your pets.

The special form, which that guide calls the most popular, covers perils unless they are excluded. Flood and earthquake are the exclusions it names. On the Insurance Information Institute chart, an HO-3 dwelling is open peril except flood, earthquake, war, nuclear accident, landslide, mudslide, sinkhole, and other listed exclusions. Belongings are named perils, including fire, wind, theft, and a sudden water discharge. NAIC usual limits are 10 percent, 50 percent, and 20 percent for other structures, belongings, and loss of use. Lenders often call this hazard insurance. What hazard insurance is is the mortgage line. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Which common situations are covered, excluded, or an add-on?

The table is the usual pattern in those sources, not a reading of your form. An endorsement can add a row, and an exclusion can remove one. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Usual pattern in the NAIC guide, the Insurance Information Institute, FEMA, FloodSmart, and state insurance departments. Not your declarations page. Coverage varies by policy and by state.
Situation	Usual result	Source pattern
Fire or lightning	Covered	A named peril on standard forms.
Theft of belongings	Covered, often with a limit	Named peril. Jewelry theft is often capped.
Wind or hail on the roof	Often covered	Named peril. Coastal policies often exclude wind.
Hurricane wind	Often covered	Wind, unless excluded. The deductible may be a percentage.
Flood or storm surge	Not covered	FEMA: flood insurance is a separate policy.
Earthquake	Separate policy or add-on	Excluded on a standard form.
Roof worn out	Not covered	Wear is maintenance, not a claim.
Rain through a new opening	Often covered	Wind or hail must open the roof first.
Burst pipe	Resulting damage often covered	The failed part itself may not be covered.
Slow leak or seepage	Usually not covered	Gradual leaks usually are excluded.
Mold after sudden covered water	Often limited	Many policies limit or exclude mold.
Mold from a long leak or flood	Usually not covered	It follows the water exclusion.
Sewer or drain backup	Usually an add-on	A typical policy does not cover backup.
Underground sewer line	Service-line add-on	A separate plan may be a service contract.
Foundation settling or cracks	Usually not covered	Earth movement and settling are excluded.

Does homeowners insurance cover roof leaks and roof replacement?

A roof leak is covered when a covered peril opens the roof, and it is maintenance when the roof wears out. The Maryland Insurance Administration says policies typically pay sudden damage from fire, wind, hail, or the weight of ice or snow, and do not pay for wear. Hail on a roof that already needs work may be only partly covered. The sample HO-3 pays for rain indoors only if wind or hail first makes an opening.

Actual cash value deducts age and wear. Replacement cost does not, once the repair is done. Maryland compares a 20-year-old roof destroyed by a covered peril: replacement cost pays to replace it if the work is done, and actual cash value pays the depreciated amount, which will most likely be far less. The Texas Department of Insurance says some companies move an older roof to actual cash value and will not replace a roof only because it is old. Below 80 percent of replacement cost, the NAIC guide says the insurer may reduce the payment. Averages, not a quote, are on the average cost of homeowners insurance page. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover water damage and plumbing?

Sudden water is the usual covered plumbing loss. A slow leak usually is not. The Texas Department of Insurance names a burst pipe, a toilet overflow, and a broken washer hose, and says gradual leaks usually are not covered. The sample form can pay to open a wall to reach the pipe and does not pay for the failed part.

Flood is a separate policy. FEMA says most homeowners insurance does not cover it. Loans from federally regulated or insured lenders in high-risk areas must have flood insurance, and an NFIP policy typically waits 30 days unless a lender or a map change is why you buy it. FloodSmart states maximums of $250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents. Storm surge is flood, not wind. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover mold?

Mold is paid, if at all, because a covered water loss caused it, and many policies then limit the payment. The Insurance Information Institute lists mold with maintenance. The Maryland homeowners guide says some policies exclude all mold and some pay only after a covered cause, such as a broken pipe. The NAIC guide says most policies offer limited or no mold coverage. Texas says mold from sudden covered water can be covered, and mold from a slow leak or a flood usually cannot. These guides state no national remediation price, so this page quotes none. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover sewer lines and sewer backup?

Backup through a drain is not a replacement of the buried line. The Insurance Information Institute says a typical policy does not cover sewer backup. The NAIC guide says coverage is limited or missing unless you add it. The Maryland homeowners guide says Maryland requires its insurers to offer backup coverage in writing. That duty is Maryland’s, and the offer can cost extra.

The Maryland buried-utility page describes optional coverage for underground lines outside the house. It may pay for a break, including digging. The administration describes a common cap of $10,000 on a line under 50 years old and $2,500 on an older line, plus the deductible. Those figures describe a pattern, not your limit. A plan sold as sewer line insurance is often a service contract. The Nevada Division of Insurance says service contracts are not insurance. A home warranty may cover a plumbing breakdown, not the structure, and might not be regulated as insurance. No company is recommended. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover foundation repair?

Settling is the usual exclusion. The sample HO-3 excludes settling, cracking, earthquake, landslide, sinkhole, and other earth movement. Only an ensuing fire is paid. Water seeping through a foundation is a water exclusion. A fire that damages the foundation can still be a fire loss. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover termites, the furnace, trees, theft, dog bites, a hurricane, or an earthquake?

The Insurance Information Institute says termite infestation is not covered. The sample form excludes insects except a narrow collapse grant.

When a covered peril damages a built-in furnace or air conditioner, the NAIC consumer guide includes that equipment in the dwelling. Wear and mechanical breakdown are excluded. A home warranty might not be regulated as insurance.

The sample form covers trees for fire, lightning, explosion, riot, aircraft, some vehicles, vandalism, and theft, up to 5 percent of the dwelling limit and $500 for one plant. Wind is not included. Removing a tree that hits a structure is separate: up to $1,000 for the loss and $500 for one tree. The Wisconsin guide describes that split.

Theft is a named peril, on and off the premises. The sample form limits theft of jewelry, watches, and furs to $1,500. A scheduled endorsement can cover items above that limit.

Medical payments and liability can apply when a pet hurts someone else. Some insurers will not cover certain breeds. Damage your own animal does to your house is not that liability coverage.

Wind is often covered, and coastal policies often exclude it. Storm surge is flood, which FEMA says the homeowners policy does not cover. Earthquake is a separate policy or an endorsement. A hurricane deductible can be a percentage of the dwelling limit. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

What does homeowners insurance not cover?

Flood, earthquake and other earth movement, wear, insects, sewer backup, and mold beyond a narrow grant are the usual gaps. The Insurance Information Institute also names war, a nuclear accident, landslide, mudslide, and sinkhole.

If you cannot buy a regular policy, ask your state insurance department about a FAIR Plan, as the NAIC guide says. The California FAIR Plan is one state’s limited fire policy, not Coverage A through F. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

How do I check my own homeowners policy?

Read the declarations page for limits, deductibles, and the form, the endorsements for what was added, and the exclusions for what was removed. The Maryland roof page points to the loss-settlement section for replacement cost or actual cash value. Ask which water damage is out and whether mold is covered. The state insurance department is the complaint path if a claim stalls. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

How can a claim or an endorsement change my escrow payment?

When the servicer pays the premium, it sits in escrow. What an escrow account is is the short version. The CFPB says a higher premium changes the escrow part of the payment. 12 CFR 1024.17 caps that deposit at one-twelfth of expected bills, plus a cushion of no more than one-sixth of the year's bills (less if your loan documents say so). The CFPB’s PITI page says principal and interest generally stay the same if you pay on time.

A claim changes the payment only if the premium changes. The NAIC guide says claims often affect renewal price. The CFPB says the loss check generally names you and the servicer, and you still owe the mortgage during repairs. Why homeowners insurance went up covers the renewal. The escrow analysis separates a new deposit from a shortage. The example adds a made-up endorsement and divides it by 12. Every figure is made up. This is an example estimate, not a price.

This is an example, not a statement from a servicer. Every dollar amount is made up. Principal is $400.00 and interest is $900.00, not a rate. The made-up premium is $2,400.00. The made-up endorsement adds $180.00 a year, which is $15.00 a month on the escrow line. Tax stays $3,600.00. The escrow deposit moves from $500.00 to $515.00. The payment moves from $1,800.00 to $1,815.00. The shortage is $0.00. That $0 figure assumes the new premium is in the servicer's next annual analysis. This is an example estimate. Estimates only; your lender's numbers win.

EXAMPLE. Made-up monthly payment before and after an endorsement. Not a servicer’s statement.

EXAMPLE. Example loan EXAMPLE-0000. The endorsement of $180.00 a year is made up. Principal and interest are stated inputs, not a rate.

Line	Before	After	Monthly change
Homeowners premium	$2,400.00	$2,580.00	+$15.00
Endorsement, part of that premium	$0.00	$180.00	+$15.00
Property tax	$3,600.00	$3,600.00	$0.00
Escrow deposit	$500.00	$515.00	+$15.00
Principal	$400.00	$400.00	$0.00
Interest	$900.00	$900.00	$0.00
Total payment	$1,800.00	$1,815.00	+$15.00

Annotation. The highlighted escrow deposit rises by $15.00 because the made-up endorsement is $180.00 a year, divided by 12. One-sixth of the new $6,180.00 disbursement total is $1,030.00, the cushion cap in this example. The shortage in this example is $0.00. That $0 figure assumes the new premium is in the servicer's next annual analysis.

Estimates only; your lender's numbers win.

FAQ

What are the sections of a homeowners insurance policy?

The NAIC guide lists dwelling, other structures, personal property, loss of use, liability, and medical payments. The sample HO-3 labels them Coverage A through F. Declarations, endorsements, and exclusions show how they apply to you. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Does homeowners insurance cover roof leaks?

A leak through a new wind or hail opening is the sudden loss that can be covered. A leak from age is maintenance. Older roofs are often paid at actual cash value. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

What kind of water damage is not covered?

Flood, storm surge, and gradual leaks are the usual gaps. FEMA says flood insurance is separate. A sudden burst can still be covered. Sewer backup usually needs an endorsement. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

How expensive is mold remediation?

It depends on the spread and on what must be dried or removed. The guides checked here publish no national price, so this page quotes none. Payment, if any, follows a covered water loss and any mold limit in the form. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

What insurance covers sewer line replacement?

Backup coverage does not replace the buried line. An optional service-line endorsement can. A separate sewer-line plan is often a service contract, which Nevada says is not insurance. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read the policy and the contract, and ask your insurer or agent.

Do I need homeowners insurance if my house is paid off?

The NAIC guide names two reasons: to protect the house and liability, and to satisfy a lender while the mortgage lasts. Payoff ends the lender reason if no one still requires the policy. This page does not say to drop it. Coverage varies by policy and by state. Read your own policy, and ask your insurer or agent what it covers.

Sources checked October 29, 2026

A short note when the guides change

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