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For immediate release
New York Press Office: Michael Barry, 917-923-8245,Ìýmichaelb@iii.org

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NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2021—This week’s intense winds and blizzard conditions pose threats to autos and homes yet theÌýÌý(Triple-I) notes standard auto and homeowner’s insurance policies cover most instances of snowstorm-caused property damage.

Auto insurance policies cover:

• Damage from vehicle crashes involving two or more drivers which was caused by either snowy or slippery roads; these crashes are generally covered under the liability portion of the negligent driver’s auto insurance policy or the collision coverage portion of your auto insurance policy
• Damage from a vehicle’s crash into an object (e.g., tree, guard rail); these crashes are covered under the optionalÌýÌýof an auto insurance policy Ìý
• Damage to a vehicle caused by heavy wind, flooding, fallen ice or fallen tree limbs; these events are covered under the optionalÌýÌýof an auto insurance policy

Seventy-four (74) percent of U.S. vehicle owners opted to buy collision coverage when purchasing auto insurance in 2017, a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) survey determined. Seventy-eight (78) percent of U.S. vehicle owners have comprehensive coverage as part of their auto insurance policy, the same NAIC survey also found.

Homeowners insurance policies cover:

• Damage to a house, its roof, its contents, and other insured structures (e.g., garage, shed) on the property caused by windÌý
• Damage from tree limbs that fall onto either a house or the property’s other insured structures
• Damage from ice and other objects that fall onto a house
• Damage to the house and its contents caused by either weight of snow or ice
• Damage caused by burst pipes or ice dams, a condition where water is unable to drain properly through the gutters and seeps into a house causing damage to ceilings and walls.
• Damage caused by either wind-driven snow or freezing rain if either the snow or the rain got into the house because the house was damaged by wind
• Additional living expenses (ALE), if the house is made uninhabitable by an insured disaster

Damage caused by flooding isÌýnotÌýcovered by either a standard homeowners or renters insurance policy. Melting snow that seeps into a house from the ground up would be covered by flood insurance, which is provided by FEMA’sÌý, and a few private insurers. Flood insurance is available to both homeowners and renters.Ìý

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