 TITLE: What Is Not Covered by Homeowners Insurance? CONTENT: What Is Not Covered Under a Homeowners Insurance Policy\n-------------------------------------------------------\nWhen buying homeowners insurance, it's important to understand exactly it includes—and what it doesn't. Standard homeowners insurance generally doesn't cover the following perils:\n*   **Earthquakes, floods, sinkholes and landslides**: Home fires or burglaries can happen anywhere, but some risks are more prevalent in certain parts of the country. For example, Florida is prone to sinkholes, while earthquakes are common in California. Since many homeowners don't need coverage for these location-specific perils, they aren't part of standard homeowners insurance policies.\n*   **Sewer backups, septic tank backups, drain backups or sump pump failures**: Any one of these unpleasant situations can cause thousands of dollars in water damage to your home and belongings. Unfortunately, that damage usually isn't covered by homeowners insurance.\n*   **Maintenance issues**: Normal wear and tear on your home, or problems caused by your failure to maintain your home, aren't covered by homeowners insurance. If a hurricane rips the roof off your house, homeowners insurance will cover it. If your 30-year-old roof develops a leak on its own, however, insurance won't typically cover it. Infestation by animals or insects, such as termites, is not covered either.\n*   **Dog attacks**: Fluffy wouldn't hurt a flea … or would he? Homeowners insurance may or may not cover you if your dog bites someone on your property, so it's important to verify the rules of your specific policy. Some insurance companies cover liability protection and medical costs for dog bites. Others won't insure homeowners who own breeds the insurer considers dangerous (pit bulls and Rottweilers are common examples) or will make you sign a waiver releasing them from liability for dog attacks.\nStandard homeowners insurance doesn't cover damage you intentionally cause to your home or damage resulting from war, government seizure or destruction of your property, nuclear accidents or pollution. END