Are you covered if homeowners insurance policy information is incorrect?
I’m wondering if an insurance company could deny my coverage if a disaster happens and, after the fact, they determine that information I supplied when signing up turns out to be inaccurate. For example, if they ask me whether I have trusses or rafters for my roofing system and I give the wrong answer because I can’t tell the difference, could they deny me coverage (or pay less money) in the event that a tree falls and damages my roof?
Or, if I get a discount for having smoke detectors in the house, there’s a fire and it turns out that all of the batteries in my smoke detectors were dead when the fire started, could they deny coverage because I failed to keep my smoke detectors operational?
I’m asking not because I deliberately supply misinformation to my insurer, but because there are so many conditions involved in insurance policies that it seems like it would be easy to make a mistake. I’ve never heard of someone’s house burning down and the person not being covered because of some small oversight, but can this happen?
Yes they can deny coverage in at least one state (Florida) for false or mistaken facts in the application, and the misrepresentation need not be related in any way with the claim!
In this case,
https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/2009/06/articles/insurance/wrong-application-information-may-lead-to-denial-of-an-otherwise-covered-loss/
the insured obtained coverage after demonstrating that they had removed a diving board from their swimming pool.
When their house was damaged in a tornado, the presence of a restored diving board was noted, and formed the basis for the denial of the claim for storm damage