The Covered Loss is an independent, plain-English guide to homeowners insurance claims in the US. It explains what a homeowners policy usually covers, how a roof, hail, wind, water, fire, theft or mold claim works, how the payout is worked out, and the claim rules in each of the 50 states and DC. We cover filing a claim, what’s covered, roof, hail and wind, water, mold and flood, fire, smoke and theft, the payout, and adjusters and disputes.
General information, not legal or insurance advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Your policy’s wording and your state’s law decide, and both change. For help with your claim, your state insurance department’s consumer line and legal aid are free.
What we do
A homeowners claim is decided by two things: the wording of the policy and the law of the state the home is in. Both vary more than most of what is written about claims suggests. “You have one year to sue” is a common line, but the ISO HO-3 specimen form, a standard form many insurers base their own on, says two years after the date of loss in both its 2000 and 2011 editions (HO 00 03 10 00, HO 00 03 05 11, read 8 November 2026). Texas voids any contract limit shorter than two years (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.070), and Florida gives five years from the date of loss to sue on a property insurance contract (Fla. Stat. 95.11(2)(e), read 8 November 2026). A flood claim under the federal flood policy runs on a different clock altogether.
So every rule, day count and dollar figure on this site carries its source and the day we read it. Policy terms name the form and its edition, and we say when an insurer’s own form can differ. Where we could not read a state’s rule in an official source, the page says “not confirmed” and links that state’s own code. Where a page has a sum to work out, such as actual cash value, a depreciation holdback or a percentage deductible, the calculator shows the arithmetic on numbers you enter. Our how we check page explains where each kind of fact comes from and how we word it. Pages are published under The Covered Loss name.
What we are not
The Covered Loss is not an insurer, an insurance agent or broker, a public adjuster, a law firm or a government agency. We give general information, not legal or insurance advice, and nothing here is a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Reading this site, using a calculator or writing to us creates no attorney-client relationship. We never review a reader’s policy, estimate or denial letter, and we never contact an insurer, an adjuster or a mortgage company for anyone. We have not seen your policy, your damage or your letters. We never say what your policy covers, what your insurer owes, what your deadline is, whether to file a claim, whether to hire anyone, whether to sue, or whether an insurer acted in bad faith. Pages explain the policy terms and the rules, what each choice involves and who decides.
How we are funded
The Covered Loss is free to read and is funded by display advertising. Ads may not appear yet while the site is new. Once they run, some may come from insurers, roofers, restoration companies, public adjusters, law firms or other companies that sell to homeowners. An ad is not an endorsement, a referral or a recommendation, and advertisers have no say over what we publish. Nobody pays us anything to read a page or use a calculator.
How we stay independent
- No affiliate links. We earn nothing if you buy, sign or hire anything after reading a page.
- No paid placements. Nobody can pay for coverage, a mention or a better position.
- No sold leads. We collect no claim details to pass on to insurers, contractors, public adjusters, lawyers or anyone else.
- No insurance quotes. We don’t sell, compare or quote insurance, and we don’t rank insurers.
- No referrals. We don’t name, recommend or rank public adjusters, contractors, roofers, restoration or mitigation firms, appraisers, umpires or lawyers, and we offer no “free claim review” or “free policy review”.
That is why our pages can say things a seller might not: that a contractor offering to “cover your deductible” may be breaking state law, that a claim about public adjusters getting a set percentage more has no official source behind it, or that a figure you saw elsewhere is out of date.
How pages are checked
Every page gets a fact-check against its sources, separate from the writing. Each page ends with the date its sources were checked. Our editorial policy sets out each step.
Where to start
If you are wondering whether something is covered, what homeowners insurance covers explains the parts of a standard policy and the usual exclusions. If you are about to report damage, how to file a homeowners insurance claim walks through the steps. If you want to see the clocks that apply in your state, claim deadlines by state shows each rule we have read, with its citation and the day we read it. If you are looking at an estimate, the actual cash value calculator and the deductible calculator do the arithmetic on figures you enter. If a proof-of-loss date, a suit limit or a flood claim’s 60 days is close, ask your insurer in writing, your state insurance department (the NAIC’s directory lists each one), a legal aid office or a licensed attorney now rather than later.
Mistakes and questions
Our corrections page logs what we have fixed, and our contact page says how to reach us. Please read our disclaimer too.
