Texas Home Insurance: What Is Other Structures Coverage?

Texas · Coverage B is the detached building

Other structures coverage is not a second house limit. It is usually 10 percent of Coverage A.

Coverage A is the dwelling, including a garage that shares a wall or a roof with the house. Coverage B is a structure on the same residence premises that is separated by clear space: a detached garage, a shed, a barn, a gazebo, and on many forms a fence. A breezeway or a shared roof can pull that building back into Coverage A. Ask before a hailstorm, not after. Personal property inside the shed is still Coverage C. This is educational. The form decides, and Texas HO-A, HO-B, and HO-3 jackets are not the same list of perils.

The default is a percent, and the percent is often too small. On many HO-3 forms Coverage B starts at 10 percent of Coverage A. Example only: dwelling limit $400,000, so other structures start at $40,000. A detached garage that would cost $80,000 to rebuild is only half insured. Raise B. Do not raise A and hope the garage comes along, unless the carrier agrees the garage is part of the dwelling. An in-ground pool is often Coverage B. An above-ground pool is more often contents. That split is common, not universal: pools. A structure used for business can be excluded or capped even when the hobby shed is covered.

The peril has to be covered on that form. An HO-3 is open-peril on the dwelling, meaning a loss is covered unless excluded. Read whether other structures follow that or a shorter named list. Wind and hail still use the wind or hail deductible, which may be a percent of Coverage A, not of the shed. On a $400,000 dwelling, 2 percent is $8,000. That is an example. The deductible can be larger than the shed. Replacing a fence no one hit with a covered peril is maintenance.

How the jackets differ: types of Texas home policies and HO-3, HO-A, and HO-B. Sizing the dwelling the percent hangs on: how to set Coverage A. The hubs: Texas homeowners, the product page, and what each letter means.

Price the detached building on its own, then compare it with 10 percent of Coverage A. Ask an agent or get a home quote.