Does Home Insurance Cover Siding?

Homes with wood, aluminum, or vinyl siding are classically beautiful. Just like any other part of your home, though, it can be damaged due to an accident or from years of wear and tear. This leads homeowners to think about homeowners insurance. Will it cover siding repair?

The needed repair or replacement of your siding is an expense you would rather not pay. That is totally understandable! Let’s dig deeper into whether or not you can expect homeowners insurance to cover this.

Table of Contents

• What Are Some Common Things Covered by Home Insurance?
• Does  Home Insurance Cover Siding?
• Get New Aluminum Siding

What Are Some Common Things Covered by Home Insurance?

US News tells us that a standard homeowners insurance policy provides coverage to repair or replace your home and its contents in the event of damage. What is “damage” though? This refers to what results from fire, smoke, theft, vandalism, or damage caused by a weather event. Common weather that is included in insurance coverage are events like lightning, wind, and hail.

Does Home Insurance Cover Siding?

A typical homeowners policy’s dwelling coverage will pay for damage from a covered peril to your home’s structure and anything permanently attached to it, which includes your home’s siding. That being said, it is important that the damage to your siding is a covered peril.

You can only file an insurance claim if it was caused by a storm, fire, or vandalism. Extreme weather is one of the most common causes of siding damage, like siding being ripped off by strong hurricane-force winds. There is also hail damages, particularly in Texas. In California, fire and smoke damage leads to needing to have your siding replaced.

Insurance does not cover general wear and tear. It also doesn’t cover cosmetic changes. If you want your undamaged siding replaced because it is old, your insurance policy will not cover the cost.

Get New Aluminum Siding

When your damaged siding is replaced by your insurance policy, you don’t need to replace it with exactly the same thing. We encourage you to consider aluminum siding. Aluminum doesn’t face some of the issues that wood and vinyl do, like rot. It is waterproof. A home sided with 53-gauge aluminum should not require residing again for at least 35 years, and possibly even longer! 

Aluminum is also recyclable, meaning it’s good for all of us if you choose aluminum siding. It requires little energy to manufacture, and. It doesn’t need to end up in a landfill and it can be remelted and remade into new objects when the time comes. 

Once your current siding is replaced, you can feel confident and proud of your home. You will probably paint two or three times during the lifetime of the siding in order to keep it looking fresh and new, but other than that your siding can be out of mind.