Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Fire Damage to a Home?

Not all fire damage is the same. For instance, if a candle tipped in your living room and only that room burned, you wouldn’t need as much coverage as you would if your entire house went up in flames.

For that reason, insurance companies typically categorize fire damage into six classes, according to Insuranceopedia. Here’s an overview.

Class A includes fire that began due to a flammable solid. These solids are items like plastic, wood, cloth, and/or paper.

The second class of fire damage, Class B, is somewhat more encompassing. It covers fire damage from solids as well as flammable liquids. The difference between Class A and Class B is that the solids must be able to become liquids.

If butane, natural gas, hydrogen, propane, or another flammable gas started your house fire, then it’s sorted as a Class C event by your home insurance provider.

Class D fires are those started by a combustible metal, among them potassium, magnesium, and sodium

If a fire is a Class E, then any of the causes as listed in Class A and Class B are applicable. So too are any electrical elements that may have started the fire, such as faulty wiring.

The last fire damage class is Class F, which covers fires started by fats and/or cooking oils. These fires tend to burn more intensely, hence why they warrant their own category.

Besides being organized into one of the above six classes, insurance providers will also categorize a house fire as being primary or secondary. A secondary fire is one in which fire substances–including smoke­–did the most damage, whereas a primary fire is one in which the fire itself did the most damage to the home.

Fire Damage Coverage Options

In the days after a house fire, your mind will be in a million places at once. It may take you several days to get your bearings. Once you do, you’re going to want to explore your insurance options, as your home will need significant repairs to be habitable again.

Of all the things that can happen to your home and cause damage, fire is a very common one. According to a 2019 edition of the Home Structure Fires Report from the National Fire Protection Association or NFPA, over five years, the United States fire departments calculated that 354,400 housefires occurred.

Given the commonality of fire, it’s rare for home insurance companies not to offer fire protection of at least some sort. How encompassing your fire protection is does vary depending on your insurance plan.

Here are the parts of a standard homeowners insurance policy that may cover your home for fire damage.

If a natural disaster is the reason your home is in shambles, then your homeowners insurance natural disaster coverage should kick in. Under most insurance plans, natural disasters encompass events such as severe winds, falling items, smoke damage, and weather damage from hail, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and lightning.

This type of coverage may also be referred to as HO-3, a type of homeowners insurance policy. Homeowners insurance includes HO-1 through HO-8, but many homeowners opt for HO-3 coverage because it’s so encompassing.

For instance, both HO-3 and HO-1 plans protect your home from what are known as perils, or damages. However, HO-3 covers 16 different perils and HO-1 only covers 10 perils. Also, with a HO-3 policy, besides the 16 named perils, you can also claim coverage for open perils, or those outside of the list of 16 perils. Exclusions do exist, but you get more protection with HO-3.

Fire and smoke are included under HO-3 policies as perils, as are explosions.

Personal property coverage protects the items in your home in addition to the home itself. This plan would go into effect if the perils listed above were to occur. Insurance.com explains that under a personal property plan, you can get your items repaired or even replaced if they’re too damaged from the fire.

Besides just goods like clothing, electronics, furniture, and appliances, some insurance companies extend personal property coverage to landscaping as well.

Does your home have a detached garage or maybe a shed? Were either structures severely damaged in the fire? If you don’t have detached structures coverage, then it’d be on you to pay for the full price of the repairs or replacements of these structures.

With detached structures coverage under your homeowner’s insurance, your insurance could help with these costs. As the name suggests, this insurance only applies to structures on your property that are not attached to your home. A separate garage is eligible, but an attached one is not.

Some homeowners opt for dwelling coverage, which encompasses both your home and any attached structures. Allstate Insurance further explains that dwelling coverage can include coverage for parts of the house that may not be under another homeowners insurance plan, including your front porch or a deck.

That said, detached structures are not eligible for repair or replacement under a dwelling coverage insurance plan.

If you have one of the above insurance plans, then you should expect to be covered for the fire damage sustained to your home. The question becomes, how much coverage will you receive?

That all depends on your coverage limit. Unlike with car insurance, where the limit may be set for you, you can typically select the coverage limit for your homeowners insurance. Under the same policy, you might have different coverage limits, for example your dwelling coverage includes more than your personal property coverage or vice-versa.

With you in the driver’s seat to choose your coverage limit, how do you decide what’s sufficient? What many homeowners do is think of how much money it would cost to rebuild their home after a fire or what the price of replacing everything would be.

Do be aware that if you set your coverage limit sky-high, your premium will be equally high. The premium is the money you pay on your insurance so it’s active. Although you can break up premium payments by the month, the quarter, on a six-month basis, or on a 12-month basis, you can’t dodge it entirely.



Failing to pay the premium will lead to the cancellation of your homeowner’s insurance. Thus, when setting your coverage limit, make sure that it’s enough to pay for what you need but that your premium isn’t a financial burden.

If fire ravaged your home and you’re anticipating significant expenses for your property to be habitable again, you can rely on your homeowners insurance. Depending on whether you want protection for just the home itself, the home and attached structures, or the home and detached structures, you need different coverage plans.

Now that you know what your options are for homeowner’s insurance after a fire, you can get your home rebuilt so you can live in it again someday.

• https://www.insuranceopedia.com/definition/338/fire-damage
• https://www.nfpa.org//-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/Building-and-life-safety/oshomes.pdf
• https://www.insurance.com/home-and-renters-insurance/natural-disasters/homeowner-fire-policy-coverage.html
• https://www.allstate.com/tr/home-insurance/fire-insurance-coverage.aspx