Is Food Spoiled After a Power Outage Covered by Home Insurance?

A standard homeowners insurance policy includes a $500 limit on spoiled food coverage. If the deductible you pay before the insurer pays the rest is also $500, there would not be a payout. However, if you set a lower deductible, which would result in higher monthly payments, the coverage might help pay for the spoiled food. Generally, your deductible must be lower than your policy limits and greater than your loss to receive reimbursements.

Nonetheless, there are better alternatives to relying on spoiled-food coverage if a power outage occurs. You can build your emergency fund to pay for such losses.

Remember that every insurance company designs its own policies and sets its own rates. So you need to talk with your insurance agent to determine if the plan you've purchased or are considering covers food loss from power outages. The policy usually states specific conditions under which power outages caused by external forces are covered.

If a tree falls on your roof and knocks down a power line, it's likely covered in a standard homeowners insurance plan. Storms, lightning, and hurricanes are perils often covered in standard plans.

You might not be covered if the reason for the power outage is a neighborhood blackout. Other issues involving power loss that might not be covered in a standard plan include not paying the electric bill on time, an old refrigerator wearing out, and certain types of floods.

If you want to make sure you're covered for power outages regardless of the reason, you can add a food-spoilage extension to your homeowners' insurance policy. Adding equipment-breakdown coverage may cover spoiled food resulting from mechanical and electrical breakdowns of your refrigerator and its components. Warranties offered by home improvement stores may cover spoiled food resulting from your refrigerator 's component failure or other reasons, excluding power outage. Make sure you read your refrigerator's warranty terms carefully to know if such loss is covered.

Adding extensions to your standard homeowners' insurance policy is often the best way to ensure coverage for specific disasters. It usually means paying more monthly insurance costs, but if you add multiple extensions, ask for discounts.

You should think twice before filing a food spoilage claim because it could raise your monthly insurance premiums. Sometimes, these hikes are significantly higher than you might expect. Ask yourself whether the claim put you ahead or behind in the big picture.

If you haven't filed many claims over the years, there's less chance you'll see a sudden spike in premiums after filing a food-spoilage claim. It's recommended to avoid filing the same type of claim twice in the same decade.