Does Your Home Insurance Policy Cover War?

Home insurance policies serve as a financial safeguard for homeowners, protecting against various unforeseen events that can cause damage to property. Understanding the specific perils covered and, perhaps more importantly, those that are excluded, is a fundamental aspect of responsible homeownership. A frequent question among policyholders concerns coverage for damages resulting from large-scale conflicts, such as war or related civil disturbances.

General Scope of Home Insurance Protection

Standard homeowner’s insurance policies cover damage to the dwelling, other structures like garages or sheds, and personal belongings. These policies protect against common perils, including fire, lightning, windstorms, hail, theft, and vandalism. Policies also include coverage for personal liability if someone is injured on the property, and for additional living expenses if the home becomes uninhabitable due to a covered loss.

Specific Policy Exclusions for War

Most standard homeowner’s insurance policies contain a “war exclusion” clause. This provision excludes coverage for damages from acts of war, whether declared or undeclared. The exclusion covers conflicts including civil war, invasion, rebellion, insurrection, revolution, and other military actions or hostile acts. This applies regardless of the scale or intensity of the conflict.

The reason for this exclusion is the catastrophic and unpredictable nature of war. Insurance companies cannot accurately assess or price the immense risk associated with war-related damages. Covering such events could lead to claims that could bankrupt insurers. Therefore, war is considered an uninsurable risk for private insurance.

Understanding Related Exclusions

Homeowner’s policies address civil commotion, riots, and acts of terrorism. Standard policies provide coverage for physical damage caused by riots, civil commotion, or vandalism. These events are covered perils, meaning damage from fire, broken glass, or looting during such incidents is included.

However, the distinction between civil unrest and a broader “war” or “insurrection” can be significant for coverage. While civil commotion is covered, if an event escalates to a full-scale insurrection or hostile act by a sovereign entity, the war exclusion may apply. For terrorism, standard homeowners policies do not always list terrorism as a covered peril. Instead, they cover damages from incidents like explosions, fires, or smoke, even if caused by terrorism.

For commercial properties, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) was created after the September 11, 2001, attacks. This federal program requires insurers to offer terrorism coverage for commercial property and casualty policies, providing a federal backstop for large-scale losses. However, TRIA primarily impacts commercial lines of insurance and does not typically extend to personal lines like homeowners insurance, where direct terrorism exclusions are less common if the damage falls under a covered peril like fire or explosion.