If you have a detached garage, pole barn, she-shed or workshop in your backyard you likely believe it’s automatically covered by your homeowners policy. Most Michigan homeowners do. And they’re mostly correct, but only when they don’t need to file a claim. Being partially covered by your homeowners policy through Great Lakes State Agency, serving Okemos, MI, is worse than not being covered at all until you need to file a claim.
What Counts as an Outbuilding, Anyway
Sheds, detached garages, barns, gazebos, fences, that cottage down by the lake up north; you guessed it: They’re considered "other structures" by insurance companies. Homeowners policies automatically provide some coverage for other structures, but it’s typically limited to a certain percentage of your dwelling coverage amount (usually 10%). So if your pole barn is valued at more than your dwelling coverage times 10%, you’re assuming the additional risk.
Michigan Weather Doesn’t Make This Easier
From lake-effect snow loads that bring down roofs to spring floods creeping upriver and low-lying properties to the random straight-line windstorm that takes down a barn, outbuildings in Michigan can really get hammered. Just because a structure has made it this far in Michigan’s climate doesn’t mean it will continue to stand. Take some time to see if your limits still make sense with what Mother Michigan winters really can do to aging wood buildings.
Check Before You Need To
The best time to review outbuilding coverage isn’t after a tree comes down on your garage, it’s now. A quick policy review can tell you whether your barn, shed, or detached structure is actually protected at the value it deserves.
Reach out to Great Lakes State Agency, serving Okemos, MI, for a free policy review and make sure every structure on your property, not just your house, is properly covered.
