Does Home Insurance Cover Garages and Sheds?

A standard homeowners insurance policy should include coverage for both garages and carports that are directly connected to your home and freestanding garages, sheds, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and other detached structures on your property. For the most part, your homeowners insurance company should cover repairs to your garage door after it is damaged by any peril that isn’t explicitly excluded from coverage by your policy.

Keep reading to find out more about how home insurance covers garage door damage including what types of losses are covered and when it may be worth filing a claim.

On This Page

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  When Does Home Insurance Cover Garage Doors?

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  Will Home Insurance Cover General Garage Door Wear and Tear?

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  Does Home Insurance Cover Garage Door Replacement?

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  What Types of Garage Door Damage Won’t Be Covered by Home Insurance?

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  When Should I File a Claim for Garage Door Repairs?

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  FAQs

When Does Home Insurance Cover Garage Doors?

Your homeowners coverage should insure your garage doors against all perils that aren’t named in your policy as exclusions. The type of homeowners insurance that covers your garage doors depends on the type of garage you have. Specifically, garages directly attached to your house should be covered by your dwelling insurance, while standalone garages should be covered by your other structures insurance.

In any case, both coverage types are included in a standard home insurance policy and they generally cover the same perils.^[1] As a result, a typical HO-3 insurance policy should cover any type of garage on an open peril basis. Examples of perils that your garage door will most likely be insured against include the following:

Will Home Insurance Cover General Garage Door Wear and Tear?

Homeowners insurance will not cover a garage door repair due to damage caused by regular wear and tear. The purpose of insurance is generally to protect you from financial losses due to sudden and unexpected perils, so it doesn’t cover more predictable sources of damage like wear and tear.

Does Home Insurance Cover Garage Door Replacement?

Home insurance covers garage door replacements as long as your door was damaged by a covered peril and the replacement cost fits within your coverage limit. Your other structures coverage limit is often 10% of your dwelling coverage limit.^[2] For example, if you have $350,000 worth of coverage for your home, then your policy should automatically include $35,000 worth of coverage for a detached garage.

Meanwhile, the average cost to replace a broken garage door is $1,250.^[3] As a result, a garage door replacement should fall well below your other structures coverage limit unless you have to file claims for multiple damaged structures on your property at the same time.

Are Garage Door Openers Covered by Home Insurance?

The mechanism that enables your garage door to open should also be covered by your dwelling or other structures coverage, although it could potentially be covered by your personal property insurance depending on your insurance carrier.

Your personal property coverage limit is usually 50% to 70% of your dwelling coverage limit, which means it might range from $175,000 to $245,000 if you have $350,000 worth of dwelling coverage.^[2] A garage door opener installation costs $377 on average, so it will most likely fit within your coverage limit regardless of which type of homeowners insurance covers it.^[4]

What Types of Garage Door Damage Won’t Be Covered by Home Insurance?

The following perils are commonly listed as exclusions in open peril home insurance policies, meaning your homeowners insurance company won’t reimburse you if they damage your garage door:

• Flooding from external sources like heavy rain and sump pump overflows
• Ground movements like earthquakes, landslides and sinkholes
• Mold and infestations
• War or nuclear hazard
• Intentional losses
• Neglect or poor maintenance

When Should I File a Claim for Garage Door Repairs?

You should only file a homeowners insurance claim for garage door repairs if the cost of repairs would significantly exceed your deductible because filing a claim can cause your rates to increase. Your deductible is the minimum amount of money you must pay out of pocket before your insurer will contribute any money toward a claim. Homeowners most commonly opt for a $1,000 deductible.^[5]

Meanwhile, the average cost of homeowners insurance is $1,820 per year and the average premium increase after filing a claim for wind damage is 9%, which comes out to $163.80 for an average policy.^[6][7] As a result, it may not be worth filing a claim for $1,250 worth of wind damage to your garage door if you have a $1,000 deductible because the immediate $250 savings could be undone within two years by the subsequent rake hike.

Conversely, it may be worth filing a homeowners insurance claim if you have to completely replace your entire garage after a covered peril since this will cost you $28,670 on average without insurance coverage.^[8]