Is Mold Damage Covered By Homeowners Insurance

Mold is everywhere, it's unavoidable. It can be found in your home, outside on products, even in the air that you breathe. While mold normally grows on plants and other organic material it will grow anywhere given the right circumstances. Unfortunately, too much mold growth in a home is dangerous for any homeowner to have to deal with. Mold spores are hazardous to your health, so determining if mold damage is covered can be a difficult task depending on the cause.  

Mold growth in itself will not normally void an insurance policy, but mold damage might. Mold damage becomes a part of the claim when assessing the cause of the water damage that leads to mold growth. The problem lies with proving that mold damage is covered without resorting to a reasonable doubt-type argument.

To put it simply, if you have mold in your home and black mold grows from it then this could be considered a claim on the insurance policy because you can prove that there was water damage. In fact, most mold growth will likely be related to some form of water damage. Whether this water damage is considered an excluded item or not, the mold damage itself will remain covered by your policy. If any of the subcontractors you have hired to repair the water damage caused by a storm causes mold damage then that too would be covered under your homeowner's insurance policy.

Professional Testing and Remediation Can Reduce The Harmful Risk of Black Mold

Mold can infiltrate into insulation and if that insulation is broken down by the presence of water then mold growth may occur. As noted above, black mold is not covered under most insurance policies because it is considered a bodily injury that does not fall into the "accidental" category. Not all mold damage will be black molds but if you have this type of mold in your home and it begins to cause health problems, the symptoms caused by the mold are not covered under your homeowners insurance policy.

Mold damage can be costly, but sometimes it is necessary to get rid of black mold. If you do not cover the black mold up while you attempt to prove that mold damage is covered then this could lead to an argument against your claim that may result in the claim being denied. The mold itself may be covered but not the damage that it does to your home, furnishings or belongings.

Before you begin any type of mold remediation service, contact your insurance provider and let them know what you are doing so that they can work with you. This is very important because most insurance companies will require that you hire a professional to remove the mold. You are not covered if you do it yourself, so hiring your own contractor who is familiar with mold issues will be preferable.

Black mold can cause serious health concerns so it is best to have this remediated by a professional company before the black mold begins to spread or grow further out of control.