Home Insurance Additional Coverages

An endorsement, sometimes called a rider, is a change to your insurance policy that can add, remove or modify coverage. Reviewing your options with a licensed insurance representative can help you understand which endorsements make sense for your situation. Below, we’ll look at several additional coverages to consider and when they may be helpful.

Quick takeaway: Additional coverages for home insurance can be especially helpful when you have risks that fall outside a standard homeowners policy or exceed standard coverage limits.

Why additional home insurance coverage matters

Standard homeowners insurance often includes core protections like dwelling, other structures, personal property and liability coverage. But that doesn’t always mean every loss is covered the way people expect. Some events may be excluded entirely, while others may have lower limits for certain categories of belongings.

That’s where optional coverage can make a difference. Instead of assuming your base policy covers everything, it’s worth asking where you might need broader protection, higher limits or help with risks that require separate coverage.

Flood and home insurance

One of the biggest gaps homeowners discover is the difference between flood and home insurance. Standard homeowners insurance generally covers certain kinds of sudden and accidental water damage, but it typically doesn’t cover flood damage caused by weather, rising ground water, overflowing bodies of water or similar natural flooding events. That means flood and home insurance are often separate protections. While each are important, combined, they provide a more comprehensive package of protection.

Flood insurance is offered by insurance companies but is written through the federally backed National Flood Insurance Program. This program handles claims and provides coverage of up to $250,000 for the dwelling and up to $100,000 for belongings.¹ Some private insurers may also offer flood coverage with different limits or broader options.

Mortgage companies often require flood insurance when a home is in or near certain flood zones. But even outside high-risk areas, this coverage is worth considering. When reviewing flood and home insurance, it’s also important to plan ahead — most insurers implement a 30-day waiting period before coverage takes effect.²

Want more info? Learn more about flood insurance and flood zones and how they might apply to you and your situation.

Earthquake home insurance

Earthquake coverage is another common add-on to review because standard homeowners and renters insurance generally doesn’t cover earthquake damage. A standard policy typically covers losses resulting from fire following an earthquake, but not the earthquake damage itself.³

If you live in an area where earthquakes are more common, coverage may be available through your insurer or through a separate provider. In California, for example, earthquake coverage may be offered by your home insurance company or through the California Earthquake Authority.⁴

Earthquake coverage may be worth discussing if your home is in a higher-risk region, if local rebuilding costs are high or if you want protection from a low-frequency but high-severity event.

Are you a California homeowner, condo owner or renter? It may help to review earthquake coverage in California.

Water backup and sump overflow

Unexpected and accidental water damage, such as a burst pipe, may be covered by many homeowners insurance policies. But those same policies often exclude damage caused by backed-up sewers or drains, or by water overflowing from a sump pump. A backed-up sewer or drain can happen if the sewer is old, a tree root causes damage or there are sanitary blockages.

You may be able to purchase an endorsement for water backup and sump overflow coverage. This can be especially important if your home has a basement, finished lower level or sump pump system.

Comparing water-related protections? You may also want to read about coverages for water backup and water damage.

Scheduled personal property coverage

Standard personal property coverage may not fully protect expensive items such as jewelry, fine art, furs, golf clubs, cameras, bicycles, computers or silverware. For example, the standard home insurance policy provides only $1,000 to $2,000 of coverage for stolen jewelry. That’s why scheduled personal property coverage can be helpful for homeowners with high-value belongings.

Scheduling, or individually listing, an item usually means it’s insured for a specific value. This can increase the amount of protection for that item and may broaden coverage beyond standard theft or fire scenarios, depending on the policy terms. If you own items that would be difficult or expensive to replace, scheduled personal property coverage may be worth considering.

Special computer coverage endorsement

For many households, electronics are both expensive and essential. If a power surge, accidental damage event or other covered loss affects your devices, the standard policy may not always provide the level of protection you expect. That’s where a special computer coverage endorsement, sometimes referred to as electronics coverage, may be worth exploring.

Special computer coverage provides protection for devices against direct physical loss. Here are some electronics that may be worth discussing with your insurer:

• Desktops
• Laptops
• Smartphones
• Gaming devices
• Smart TVs
• Other electronic devices

First, ask your insurer what your current homeowners policy already covers. A special computer coverage endorsement may help if you want broader protection for important devices, including situations like a power surge not caused by lightning, water damage, heat warping and more. If your home office, schoolwork or daily routine depends on electronics, this endorsement may be worth a closer look.

Identity theft coverage on home insurance

Identity theft affects more than bank accounts. It can also create legal, administrative and personal recovery work that takes time and money to resolve. In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 4.8 million reports of fraud and identity theft, an increase of 45% over the prior year.⁵ Identity theft coverage on the homeowners policy can help with certain expenses tied to restoring your identity after a covered incident.

You may be able to purchase an endorsement that helps cover legal fees, lost wages and other recovery expenses if your identity is compromised. Some insurers also provide access to an identity theft resolution expert who can help with the steps involved in reclaiming your name. If this is a concern for your household, you might want to find out about insurance for identity theft and ways to protect yourself.

Before you decide: Ask your insurer whether an optional coverage is an endorsement to your current policy, part of a package or a separate policy altogether. That difference can affect limits, deductibles and how claims are handled.

How to choose the right optional home insurance coverages

If you’re trying to prioritize additional coverages for home insurance, start with the risks that could create the biggest financial gap for you. A few helpful questions include:

• Do you live in an area with flood, earthquake or water backup risk?
• Do you own valuables that may exceed standard policy sub-limits?
• Would replacing multiple computers or devices be financially difficult?
• Would identity theft recovery costs be hard to absorb on your own?

It can also help to review your policy regularly and compare your current protection with how your home and lifestyle have changed. For a broader overview, review the different coverages, see how they can work for you and what they include.