Does Insurance Cover Appliances?

Appliances can be expensive to repair or replace. Moreover, a broken appliance can cause extensive damage to your home. However, a few homeowners insurance coverage types may help protect your home and appliances. These coverages include personal property coverage, equipment breakdown coverage and sump overflow coverage.

We’ll take you through how homeowners insurance may help protect your home and appliances after an unexpected event.

How does personal property coverage protect my appliances?

Personal property coverage — which is part of your standard homeowners policy — is there if your appliances are damaged or destroyed by things like a house fire, a tornado, vandalism or even if they’re stolen. It will also help in the event of water damage caused by a sudden event, like a burst pipe or storm damage to your roof that causes a leak.

Your personal property coverage can help pay to replace appliances up to your coverage limits, so you’ll want to make sure those limits are high enough to cover the cost of new appliances. And if you have a particularly expensive or sentimental appliance, like an antique oven or custom-made refrigerator, you might consider scheduling that item to protect it from more types of loss.

You’ll also have to account for your homeowners insurance deductible when deciding whether or not to file a claim for a damaged appliance. For example, your electric oven is damaged by a short circuit and would cost $800 to replace, but your homeowners deductible is $1,000. In this case, you wouldn’t want to file a claim because the cost of your oven is lower than your deductible.

How does Equipment Breakdown coverage protect my appliances?

Equipment breakdown coverage is additional coverage that can help you protect your finances if your appliances suddenly break down. Because your standard homeowners insurance policy doesn’t cover appliance breakdown, you’ll need to add this coverage to take advantage of its benefits.

Are hot water heaters covered by homeowners insurance?

Hot water heaters may be covered by equipment breakdown coverage added to a homeowners insurance policy. Sometimes, hot water heaters are considered part of your home and are covered by your dwelling coverage. But usually, your standard homeowners policy won’t cover your water heater, so you’ll have to add equipment breakdown coverage to protect it.

Does homeowners insurance cover hot water heater replacement?

If your hot water heater is damaged beyond repair by a qualifying event, your equipment breakdown coverage may cover the cost of replacing your hot water heater.

Does homeowners insurance cover TV damage?

Depending on how your TV is damaged, the personal property insurance coverage on your homeowners policy could cover the cost of replacing a broken television. If your TV is damaged or destroyed in a fire, tornado or other event covered by your home insurance, your personal property coverage is what would apply to replace it at its actual cash value.

If you have a particularly expensive TV, you may want to consider scheduling it as itemized personal property to cover it for more types of damage up to its replacement cost value.

Are kitchen appliances covered by insurance?

Under equipment breakdown coverage, most large kitchen appliances may be covered by homeowners insurance.** Some types of kitchen appliances that may be covered by this insurance include:

• Refrigerators
• Ovens
• Stoves
• Dishwashers

Because equipment breakdown coverage won’t cover normal wear-and-tear, you’ll want to make sure your kitchen appliances are in tip-top shape. Regularly inspect your appliances and pay attention to any drops in performance or funny noises they might be making. And, in the event a part does break suddenly, you’ll be ready to handle it by calling your insurance to file a claim.

Protect Your Appliances from Water Damage

Water can damage a lot more than just your floors — it can really wreak havoc on appliances, too. While your standard homeowners policy may cover damage caused by sudden leaks or storms, it won’t cover damage caused by a busted sump pump that backs up into your basement. This is where optional sump pump overflow coverage comes in.

With sump pump overflow coverage, if your sump pump fails and the resulting water backup damages the appliances in your basement, your insurance may help repair or replace those appliances.

Control What You Pay for Appliance Coverage

When it comes to protecting what matters most, you have options for how much you’ll pay. While your standard homeowners policy can help protect your appliances in some circumstances, adding extra personal property coverage and equipment breakdown coverage can make a big difference if the unexpected happens.

Another thing to consider is what your insurance company can offer you. Talk to your insurance agent about bundling your policies or customer loyalty discounts to see if you can save on your home insurance.

Ready to learn more about homeowners insurance? Or are you ready to commit and need a quote? Connect with your American Family Insurance agent to get the download on all things homeowners insurance.

This information represents only a brief description of coverages, is not part of your policy, and is not a promise or guarantee of coverage. If there is any conflict between this information and your policy, the provisions of the policy will prevail. Insurance policy terms and conditions may apply. Exclusions may apply to policies, endorsements, or riders. Coverage may vary by state and may be subject to change. Some products are not available in every state. Please read your policy and contact your agent for assistance.

*Customers who bundle home and auto insurance policies may save up to 23% on both policies together (as of December 2023). Discounts may vary by state, property, policy form and company underwriting the home and/or auto policy. Discounts may not apply to all coverages on a home or auto policy.

**Coverage provided by adding the Equipment Breakdown optional endorsement. Coverage provides protection should appliances, home systems or smart home devices be damaged due to mechanical, electrical or pressure systems sudden breakdown. Does not provide coverage for breakdown caused by normal wear and tear. Coverage applies once a $500 deductible has been met.