Does Insurance Cover Window Replacement?

If you own a house, there's a huge chance that you're going to have to replace a broken window someday. It is in fact a common repair, but a window replacement could cost you a lot especially if it's a huge one. Due to this, most homeowners tend to consider making a claim against their homeowner insurance policy in order to cover the total cost for a window replacement. The question is 'does insurance cover window replacement?’

What does home insurance cover?

In most policies, a homeowner insurance policy will provide coverage for any damage to your house and its contents along with liability for any accidents which happen in your home. As a homeowner, you should carry insurance not only against damage to your house but also to all the contents inside your house in case of fire or flood.

Will it provide coverage for window replacement?

For starters, an important factor to consider is the circumstance under which the window breaks. Almost all homeowner's insurance policies cover damages inflicted by natural disasters such as storms and other unexpected occurrences. Most also provide coverage for random human-generated accidents such as a collision from an out-of-control vehicle.

On the other hand, if your window breaks because of your own negligence, it won't probably be covered by your insurance policy. Also, if your window gets broken due to a tree branch which gets too close to your window, then you'll be held accountable for the damage. Likewise, your insurance provider won't cover the cost for cleanup and repair on any window which has been broken from inside your house.
Windows have a tendency to break more often within neighborhoods having high concentrations of rental properties. The reason is because these neighborhoods are situated near nightlife destinations, college campuses, and areas featuring high rates of property crime. In fact, most broken windows are often caused by violent disputants or drunken vandals.

If the window in the house you're renting is broken under such circumstance, you will have to speak with your landlord to known which course of action to take. Since there are various rental-owner's insurance policies which don't cover the cost of non-structural repairs, your landlord's insurance provider might deny the claim on the property. If such thing happens, your landlord may ask you to cover the cost of window replacement. If this seems unfair to you, you might have to bring a small-claims court case against your landlord.

How much coverage can you get?

All homeowner's insurance policies doesn't provide coverage for a standard wear and tear since the task of maintaining your own house falls under your own responsibility as a homeowner. Although this might seem very straightforward, it could actually affect the way your insurer will your claim. For example, if your window gets broken due to a debris flying towards it during a storm, you will be provided a coverage. However, if it breaks because water which seeped in through an unmaintained seal froze and cracked the pane, your insurer will claim wear and tear as the cause of the broken window.

Also, even if the cause of the broken window is within your homeowner's insurance coverage, it might not be possible for you to make a claim. Since you're on the hook for the amount of your deductible, you can always rely on forking out some cash from your pockets for a few repairs. If ever the cost of a window replacement is low and you have a high-deductible policy to lower your premiums, the total cost for a window replacement might not exceed your deductible. Whether your policy covers the damage or not is moot in this case.

The costs required in order to process a claim are almost the same whether you're making a claim right after a major disaster such as fire, or a small one like a broken window. Even though your insurance company is required to process small claims as long as they're within your policy guidelines, a series of many small claims could be costly to your insurance provider due to the administrative costs. This in turn, could result to rate increases.

Typically, the cost for repairing or replacing a broken window is high. Depending on how much damage is sustained by the window's glass, structure, and frame, the total cost for a broken window could easily go beyond $500. If in case the window shatters to your interior, the cost for the cleanup of affected floors, furniture, and carpeting could be even higher.