Does My Homeowners Insurance Cover Teenage Mayhem?

Having a teenager in the house has its drawbacks. While you love your child to pieces, you feel like you're reliving their terrible twos; only now instead of tantrums they deliver hard-blowing insults and have taken to storytelling, to put it mildly. You understand that they’re trying to assert their independence, but at what cost, your sanity?

In trying to figure out who they are, they went with one of the biggest John Hughes clichés ever: they threw a house party while you were away. The destruction to your furniture and pool is extensive, and you’re not altogether sure that your homeowners insurance company is going to clear the damages. The question is: will your insurance company accept the claims and help you get your home back in shape?

The House Party

After assuring you that they were only going to have a few friends over, you leave your teenager in charge and leave home for the weekend. As it would happen, when your teen said a few friends, they really meant upwards of their entire graduating class. In the late hours of the party, two rowdy boys got into an argument that quickly escalated into a fist fight in your living room.

While you sat at dinner with your spouse blissfully unaware of what was happening at home, one of the boys tackled the other, crashing through your sliding glass door and into the pool, sending glass shards flying. Not only do you have a door to replace, but you could have angry parents and medical bills to pay too.

A general homeowners insurance policy does provide liability coverage. This means that if one of the teens’ parents comes to you demanding that you pay for their ER visit, your insurance will cover the expenses. Your insurance will also pay to have your sliding glass door replaced, as its damage was caused by what is known as ‘malicious mischief.’ Because the teen was tackled and sent through the door by mal-intent that resulted in your property being destroyed, your homeowners insurance policy will cover the cost of those damages.

Driving in Reverse

It’s finally time to start teaching your teen to drive and you relish the thought of no longer being the family chauffeur. They passed their written test with ease, so you assume that this will transfer over into their physical driving of the car. It doesn’t. You don’t know if it’s your teen or your methods, but they cannot seem to master street driving, and parallel parking’s out of the question.

You tell them it’s okay, that they just need some more practice, after all, that’s why they have their learner’s permit, to practice. Before they pull into the garage nose-first, you decide this is a great teaching moment, you’re going to have them back in instead. You get out of the car to let them know when to start and stop, but in their anticipation they floor it and crash through the garage. What matters first is that everyone is okay. Next is determining what insurance to use to cover the damages.

For damages rendered to your vehicle, you will use your car insurance. For all other damage rendered to your garage and property, homeowners insurance is there to help and will cover the expenses.

Home accidents are going to happen. Homeowners insurance will protect your investment and your family when anarchy hits your teen. For more information on what type of homeowners insurance package would work best with your lifestyle, visit CoverHound.