San Leandro, CA Livermore, CA Is Smoke Damage Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

We are having quite a go of it here in 2020!  Between the Covid and the Fires, it sure will be nice to return to some sense of normalcy soon! We have received the question regarding smoke damage from a few clients so decided to post about it.  In most cases, your Homeowner’s policy will provide coverage for damage from Smoke, but please note that there are a lot of different types of policies available in the marketplace, some better than others!

Depending on the nature of a smoke damage loss, cleaning or replacing damaged property may be necessary.  Smoke does not need to come from a fire within your residence to be covered, it can come from a fire in a neighboring home and/or even wildfire smoke damage will likely be covered.  We encourage you to reach out to us with specific questions and we will help you file a claim if necessary.

With all that is going on, now is a good time to look at items in your home that you may need to schedule so that you can insure the full replacement cost would be paid in the event of a loss.   Some items that are often overlooked are fine arts, handmade rugs, antiques, collections, and other hard to replace property.  When you schedule an item, the value is listed on the policy, and the coverage is determined by that valuation.  Usually appraisals and/or copies of bills of sale are kept in the file to substantiate the amount of a loss should it occur.

While we hope you stay safe and well during the pandemic and the fires this year, we want you to know that we are always here to help answer your insurance and claim questions.  Let’s hope that 2021 is a lot less complicated than 2020!