Does a Home Warranty Cover Foundation Repair?
Home warranties cover appliances and systems, so you might have to look elsewhere for foundation repair coverage.
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No, home warranties generally don’t cover foundation repairs. Home warranties tend to only cover major appliances and systems, such as dishwashers and HVAC systems, not structural elements. Because your home’s foundation supports your house’s weight against the soil to keep it from sinking or shifting, it's considered a structural part of your house.
What if a covered appliance or system affects the foundation?
Plumbing issues can contribute to foundation damage, and many home warranties cover the cost of plumbing repairs. However, most home warranty companies won’t pay for secondary damage that results from a covered issue.
For example, some home warranties cover sprinkler systems. Let's say you have coverage for a sprinkler system and there's a covered failure that damages your foundation. A home warranty is unlikely to pay to repair the foundation — it’ll only pay to repair the irrigation system.
Does a builder’s warranty cover foundation repairs?
A builder’s warranty — also called a structural warranty — corrects certain issues with or defects of a builder’s materials or workmanship. The construction company or private builder often provides the warranty, and you usually only get a builder’s warranty when you are the first occupant of a house.
A builder’s warranty can be for up to 10 years for structural defects and often covers certain foundation issues, such as soil movement and erosion. If you have a builder’s warranty on your home and need a foundation repair, read your contract to see if the builder will pay for the repair.
Does homeowners insurance pay for foundation repairs?
Most homeowners insurance policies are for unexpected and sudden events to structural parts of your home. These are often outside of the homeowner’s control, such as tornado damage.
The cause of your foundation’s damage determines if a homeowners insurance policy will pay for repairs. Homeowners insurance usually kicks in when your home experiences a covered event, such as a natural disaster, a tree falling on your home, a flood resulting from a burst pipe or a fire. If your foundation damage is due to a covered event, your homeowners insurance policy might pay to repair it.
Most homeowners insurance policies don’t cover structural damage related to an earthquake or flood. For coverage related to these natural disasters, you’ll likely need an additional policy.
If your foundation damage is caused by an issue that occurred over time, such as tree roots pushing against the structure or rotting floor joists, a homeowners insurance policy is unlikely to cover the cost of repairs. The same goes if you or a previous homeowner didn’t perform proper maintenance to the foundation over the years, such as directing rainwater from your gutters away from your foundation.