Is Food Spoilage from Power Outages Covered by Home Insurance?

Imagine this: you spend a couple hundred dollars at the grocery store. You load your fridge and freezer up with your next week or two of meat, produce, milk, eggs, ice cream, maybe some of that fancy cheese you like?

Then a storm hits and your power goes out. Your refrigerator warms up and most of your food spoils. Even your fancy cheese. It’s a frustrating hypothetical, but it could happen to you.

In fact, it seems like severe storms accompanied by power outages have been becoming more prevalent year after year.

Between Hurricanes Ida and Henri impacting New England last month, and the (what seemed like) weekly thunder and lightning storms this summer, and the inevitable snow and ice storms coming in the next few months, there are no shortages of power outages around here!

So at Berry Insurance, we’ve heard an increase in inquiries of whether spoiled food resulting from power outages is covered by homeowners insurance.

In this article, we’ll explain what home insurance covers, and if food spoilage is included. We’ll also explain when and how you should file a food spoilage claim with your insurance company.

Let’s start with a home insurance coverage overview

Among other things, home insurance covers damage to your home and property caused by what insurance refers to as “covered perils.” The following are covered perils under a home insurance policy.

Storm damage:

Damages caused by most types of storms, such as rain, wind, hail, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards are covered by home insurance. However, it has to result from a sudden cause, not gradual damage. For example, rain damage from a hole in your ceiling after a tree falls through it would be covered. Rain damage from a gradual leak you could have sealed up months ago would not be.

Theft:

If someone steals your property (either inside or outside) your insurance will pay you to replace it. 

Fire damage:

If a fire damages your home or possessions, home insurance will cover the cost. 

Sudden or Accidental Discharge:

Homeowners insurance covers damage from sudden water discharge, such as from a burst pipe, water heater rupture, or washing machine or dishwasher failure. However, while the policy covers the damage, it will not pay to replace the faulty water heater, washing machine, dishwasher, etc.

Overflow:

If water overflows from a clogged toilet or sink and causes damage, that damage will be covered by homeowners insurance.

Sewer backup or water backup (available at an additional cost):

While not automatically covered in your homeowners insurance policy, water backup coverage can be included for an additional cost. This insurance will cover you if a pipe, drain, sewer line or sump pumps backs up and causes an overflow in your home. This is different from the “overflow” coverage listed above because the backup occurs deeper within the plumbing system than the drain.

Service line coverage (available at an additional cost):

Service line coverage is an optional coverage that pays for the cost of repairing any damaged pipes or wires (such as power lines, water pipes, septic lines) coming into your property.

Equipment breakdown coverage:

This optional coverage pays for damage to your home or property caused by forces such as power surges, electrical shorts, mechanical breakdowns, motor burnout or operator error. 

Causes of damage or loss that are not covered:

As you can see, homeowners insurance covers a lot! But it doesn’t cover everything. Here are some of the exclusions you can expect with a home policy:

Floods: 

While most weather events are covered under home insurance, for some reason, floods just aren’t. You’ll need a separate flood insurance policy to cover those types of damages. And here’s a tip: just because you don’t live in a high-risk flood zone, doesn’t mean you don’t need flood insurance -- 25% of all flood insurance claims occur outside of flood zones.

Earthquakes: 

Earthquakes are also not generally included on a homeowners policy. However, it is usually offered as an optional coverage you can add on to your policy.

Wear and tear/damage from lack of maintenance: 

Homeowners insurance typically only covers damage and losses that are considered “sudden and accidental.” Because damage that happens over time can be prevented and maintained, it will not be covered by homeowners insurance. Some of these examples may include gradual water damage caused from slow leaks (like mold, staining, rusting, etc.), rotting or deterioration, peeling paint, loose handles or hinges, scratches and scuffs, roof shingles loosening, and more. Similarly, damage caused by your home settling is not covered. 

Damage caused by pests: 

Unfortunately, homeowners insurance also does not cover damage by pests such as birds, rodents, or insects.

For more detailed information on home insurance coverages, check out this article: What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?

So, does home insurance cover food spoilage?

We explained that your home’s structure and personal property is covered under your home insurance. 

So that brings us to the next question: is food considered personal property?

The answer is: in some cases.

It really depends on your insurance carrier. Some will automatically cover food, others require that you add on a specific food endorsement to your policy, and some may not cover at all.

But there is something else that is key to remember. If your policy does include food, it will only cover if it was damaged by a covered peril. If we’re referring to spoilage from a power outage, that power outage has to be the result of one of those covered causes we talked about.

So if a rain, wind, ice or snow storm caused a power outage, you can file a claim and your insurance company should reimburse you for any damaged food. If you accidentally cut your power line while working on some type of home project, or if your power is turned off because you refused to pay your bill, your insurance company would not reimburse you for any spoiled food.

But there’s another scenario we haven’t addressed: power outages resulting from your power company’s error.

It’s not exactly listed in the covered perils, but it is also something that was outside of your control. So is it covered?

In this case, it will likely depend on your insurance carrier. Each carrier has different rules when it comes to these sorts of situations, so you would have to reach out to your insurance agent to see if you are covered.

How does a food spoilage claim work?

If you experience food spoilage from a power outage, you should document and photograph any damage.

Be sure to photograph all food that was spoiled since the physical evidence of the damage will be gone once you throw the food away.

Then, reach out to your insurance agent who can help you file a claim.

Within 24 to 48 hours of filing the claim, an appraiser assigned by your insurance company will contact you to schedule a good time to review the food that was lost.

Once the damage is assessed, your insurance company will decide on a settlement amount and send you a check to replace the food.

If you’re not happy with the settlement that you’ve received from the insurance company – you can then contact the claims adjuster to negotiate your settlement amount. 

But it might not always be worth it to file a food claim:

For most types of home insurance claims, a deductible will apply. A deductible is the amount you would have to pay out before an insurance carrier paid you any claim money.

And with home insurance, your deductible will generally be $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000.

So if your deductible applies, in most cases the amount of food you lost won’t even be valuable enough to meet your deductible, so it wouldn’t make sense to file a claim for your food (unless of course the storm damaged more than just food and you are already filing a larger claim.)

However, having to pay your full deductible on a food claim isn’t always the case. Some carriers don’t apply a deductible to a food claim, and others apply a smaller deductible.

Another thing to note: some carriers may cap the amount of food reimbursements they’ll pay out. We’ve seen some carriers cap food claims at $250, $500, or $1,000.

As you can see, how carriers handle food claims really vary. So if you have a power outage and food spoilage incident, you should contact your insurance agent to see if it is worth it for you to file a claim.

Protect your food

There is a lot you can do to prepare for various storms. But outside of buying a generator, there really isn’t much you can do to prevent power outages.

One thing you can do though, is check your home insurance policy to make sure you have the proper coverages in place to protect you from any potential weather disasters.

That’s why you should review your home insurance policy to make sure you are up-to-date and covered. If you work with an independent agency (like us at Berry Insurance) they should be reaching out to you proactively each year to go through your policies with you.

To learn more about what to expect, read this article: Why You Should Review Your Personal Insurance Annually.