The sight of mold inside your home can be extremely unsettling. What’s worse, mold can not only leave a nasty odor, but cause serious health problems for you and the people in your household.
And in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, many homeowners may be grappling with water damage that quickly causes mold and mildew.
You may be wondering whether your homeowners insurance covers mold damage. And in general cases, it depends on the cause of the mold.
But in the case of mold resulting from hurricane-induced water damage, you may be out of luck unless you meet the criteria of a certain government disaster relief program.
Generally, your homeowners insurance policy can cover mold damage and removal if something suddenly goes wrong inside your home, such as a pipe bursting and flooding a section of your house.
But your policy won’t pay for mold removal in situations where there was neglect — such as if you failed to address a leaky shower you knew about for months, and water seeped into the ceiling below it and caused mold.
All told, you’ll need to review your homeowners insurance policy to see if the cause of the mold is a covered peril. If not, your insurer will refuse to pay for the damage, and understandably so.
You should also know that if your home floods because of a hurricane and mold damage ensues, that’s not covered under a standard homeowners insurance policy. It could potentially, however, be covered under separate flood insurance if you have it and immediately take action to prevent mold growth. But it can depend on the provider.
For example, even National Flood Insurance Program flood insurance policies don’t cover mold damage. Only through the Individuals and Households Program can someone get financial assistance to remediate mold caused by a disaster. And this relief is only available if FEMA inspects your home and determines you can’t physically inhabit it.
That’s why FEMA recommends people document the flooding and begin cleanup as soon as possible if they can access their property to prevent major damage.
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