As a homeowner, your DIY spirit is one of your greatest assets. Fixing a leaky faucet or patching drywall can save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. But there’s a fine line between a savvy weekend project and a catastrophic mistake that could cost you your entire home. Certain “helpful” home repairs, done without professional oversight or proper notification, can give your insurance company the legal right to deny a claim or cancel your policy entirely.
Before you pick up that sledgehammer or rewire that light fixture, you need to understand the risks. An innocent attempt to improve your home could void your insurance, leaving you completely exposed when disaster strikes. Here are ten common home repairs that can do just that.
1. Performing Unlicensed Electrical or Plumbing Work
You watched a dozen YouTube videos and feel confident you can install that new ceiling fan or replace that section of pipe. However, if that faulty wiring sparks a fire or your plumbing work leads to a major flood, your insurer has every right to deny your claim. Most policies have clauses that exclude damage resulting from faulty, inadequate, or defective workmanship.
By bypassing a licensed professional, you are assuming all the risk. Insurance companies rely on licensed tradespeople to ensure work is done to code and is safe. Without that professional sign-off, you’re on your own.
2. Failing to Disclose a New Wood-Burning Stove
Adding a rustic wood-burning stove to your living room seems like a cozy upgrade. But to an insurer, you’ve just introduced a significant fire hazard into the home. Failing to inform your insurance company about this new installation is a form of misrepresentation called “material change in risk.”
If a fire starts—even one unrelated to the stove—your insurer can argue that your policy is invalid because they were insuring a different, lower-risk property. This could void your insurance and leave you with nothing.
3. Finishing a Basement Without Proper Permits
Turning your damp, concrete basement into a beautiful family room or home office adds valuable living space. However, if you do this work without pulling the required local permits for things like electrical, plumbing, and egress windows, you create a massive insurance liability. Unpermitted work is, by definition, not up to code.
If a fire starts from shoddy wiring in your new basement den, or if someone can’t escape during an emergency, your insurance will likely deny the claim. They will argue the unpermitted, non-compliant work was the root cause of the loss.
4. Making Major Renovations Without Notifying Your Insurer
Are you planning to knock down a wall, add a second story, or build a large new deck? These major projects significantly change your home’s replacement cost and liability profile. Your policy is based on the home’s original characteristics; a major renovation makes it a different structure entirely.
You must update your insurer before the project begins to ensure you have a “course of construction” policy in place. If you don’t, and something goes wrong during or after the renovation, they can claim you failed to disclose material changes and void your insurance.
5. Leaving Your Home Vacant During an Extended Project
Sometimes a major renovation requires you to move out for a few months. But most standard homeowner’s policies have a “vacancy clause.” If your home is left unoccupied for a specified period (usually 30 to 60 days), certain coverages, like those for vandalism, water damage from frozen pipes, or glass breakage, may be suspended.
If you don’t purchase a separate “vacant home” or “builder’s risk” policy, you could be on the hook for thousands in damages that would have otherwise been covered. It’s a costly oversight during a stressful time.
6. Installing a Swimming Pool or Trampoline Secretly
To a family, a pool or trampoline is a source of endless fun. To an insurer, it’s an “attractive nuisance“—a high-risk feature that dramatically increases the likelihood of a liability claim. Adding one without notifying your insurance company is a serious breach of your policy terms.
If a guest or neighborhood child is injured, your insurer can deny the liability claim, citing your failure to disclose the new risk. This could expose you to a financially devastating lawsuit.
7. Ignoring Known Maintenance Issues Like a Leaky Roof
Your policy is designed to cover sudden and accidental damage, not gradual decay from neglect. If you’ve noticed a water stain on your ceiling and choose to ignore it for months, you can’t expect your insurer to pay for the massive water damage and mold that results when the ceiling finally collapses.
This is considered a failure to perform reasonable maintenance to prevent further loss. An adjuster can easily spot long-term damage, and the resulting claim denial can be a harsh lesson in proactive homeownership.
8. Removing Security Systems That Earned You a Discount
Did you get a discount on your premium for having a centrally monitored fire or burglar alarm system? If so, that system is now a condition of your policy. If you decide to stop paying the monitoring fee or remove the system without telling your insurer, you could be in for a rude awakening.
Should a fire or burglary occur, the insurance company can argue that you misrepresented the home’s protective features. They could deny the claim or, at the very least, reduce the payout by the amount of the discount you shouldn’t have been receiving.
9. Running an Unreported Home-Based Business
Your standard homeowner’s policy is not a commercial business policy. It doesn’t cover business-related liability, inventory, or equipment. If you’re running a daycare, a catering business, or an online retail shop out of your home without a separate business policy, you are dangerously exposed.
If a client slips and falls in your home, or if a fire destroys your business inventory, your homeowner’s insurance will not cover it. In some cases, the insurer may even cancel your policy for running an undisclosed commercial operation.
10. Renting Out a Room Without the Right Coverage
Deciding to rent out a spare room on Airbnb or to a long-term tenant changes your home’s status from a single-family residence to a rental property. This introduces new liability risks that your standard policy is not designed to cover. You need a specific landlord or home-sharing endorsement.
Without it, if your tenant causes a fire or a guest is injured, your insurance company can deny the claim. They will argue that the commercial rental activity was a material change in risk that you failed to disclose, potentially leaving you to pay for everything out-of-pocket.
Your Policy Is a Contract, Not a Suggestion
Your homeowner’s insurance is a legal agreement built on the principle of “utmost good faith.” This means you have a duty to be honest and transparent about your property and the risks associated with it. When you undertake major repairs or make significant lifestyle changes without consulting your insurer, you break that faith. To protect your biggest investment, always communicate with your agent before you start a project. A simple phone call can save you from a decision that could void your insurance when you need it most.
Have you ever been surprised by a clause in your homeowner’s insurance policy, or had a claim denied for an unexpected reason? Share your experience in the comments.
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