Does Homeowners Insurance Cover My Furnace? Facts & FAQ

Understanding what your homeowners’ insurance covers can be difficult. Every policy is different and so is every insurance company. While many of the coverages are the same, understanding when you can make a claim and when you can’t is important. With your furnace being such an important part of your home, it only makes sense that you would be curious as to whether your policy will cover it in the event it goes out.

Here’s the thing, it’s possible for your insurance to cover the cost of a lost furnace, but it depends on what happened to it. If your furnace was damaged or stopped working due to a situation covered under your policy, it will be replaced. Unfortunately, if your furnace goes out simply due to age or issues with the furnace or system itself, you’re left to pay the replacement costs yourself.

Let’s learn more about your furnace, your homeowners’ policy, and how the two of them can benefit you and your home.

What’s a Furnace?

Your furnace is part of your heating and air conditioning system that takes on the responsibility of keeping your home warm in the winter. For most of us, we don’t think much about our furnace until it gets cold outside or it’s time to do routine maintenance on it for the year. That doesn’t mean they can’t have issues at other times. If you keep up to date with your HVAC system routine maintenance, your furnace should stay in good working order. Still, issues can arise, leaving you to question what your homeowners’ policy may cover.

When Your Furnace May Be Covered

As we mentioned, understanding a homeowner’s policy is difficult. There are lots of small things that can drastically change your coverage and what’s covered. In a normal policy, items like your furnace aren’t covered by normal wear and tear or damages from lack of upkeep or maintenance issues.

When your furnace is covered is when it is damaged in an event that your policy does cover. This is due to it being built into your home and covered under the dwelling part of your policy. For example, if lightning strikes your home and it takes out your furnace, your policy would cover it. The same can be said for a house fire, windstorm, or even vandalism. The best way to determine whether your damages are covered is to call your company to discuss your policy in detail.

What Isn’t Covered

If you aren’t taking care of your furnace and it goes out, your homeowner’s policy isn’t going to cover it. You’ll also find that your policy won’t cover routine maintenance of your furnace or basic wear and tear issues. Here’s a look at some of the most common instances that homeowners expect their furnace to be covered by their policy when it isn’t:

In Conclusion

Unfortunately, unless a natural disaster or some other type of damage has happened to your home, you won’t find your homeowner’s policy carrier willing to pay for replacement or repairs. The only time your furnace will be covered is during a time of peril as a built-in part of your dwelling. In those instances, you can reach out to your policyholder for assistance if you can prove the damages came from the situation at hand.

See also:

• Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Fences?
• Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Structural Problems?

Featured Image Credit: J.A. Dunbar, Shutterstock