You rarely know the worth of your garage door unless there is an accident, which renders it useless. As much as you hope this does not happen, it is bound to, sooner or later. One of the kids could accidentally crash into the door, or a huge tree branch could get blown in. In either case, you would be saddled with a garage door that needs fixing.
The important question here is where will the money come from? You may remember your homeowners’ insurance policy, and maybe that covers the damage. The garage door is, after all, a part of your home. However, you cannot be so sure about this. The individual insurance provider should be checked with because there are some situations where you might not get coverage. Take a look at the following scenarios to find out what is usually covered, and what isn’t.
- Damage from Vehicles: One of the kinds of damage your garage door can sustain is from you or a family member driving in and hitting the door on the way. Homeowners’ insurance has coverage for this, but you are better off actually checking if your individual policy has coverage. If someone other than you drives into your garage door and causes damage to it, the good news is that their auto liability insurance must cover it.
- Natural Disasters: If the garage door takes damage from wind-blown debris or hail, some of the repair costs will be covered by homeowners’ insurance. Still, you need to carefully read the policy to see what kinds of natural disaster coverage are offered. Some eventualities will not be provided for, such as damage incurred during an earthquake or a flood.
- Vandalism: It is important to have a clause in your insurance policy, which covers malicious mischief. This should include strangers getting into your home and breaking things, and drawing graffiti on surfaces such as the garage door. If there is damage to the door and malicious intent can be proven, you should get coverage.
- Wear and Tear: Insurance companies give no provision for cases of general wear and tear, where there is a need for garage door panel repair. The best thing you can do is call a garage door repair service to fix the damage that has been done.
Note that the garage door repair technician you hire should have ample experience working with insurance companies so that your repair costs are kept to a minimum.