Vandalism

What is vandalism?

Vandalism is intentional damage to insured property by a third party.

The “damage” comes in many varieties: graffiti, broken windows, cut-down trees, dug-up gardens, a house covered in eggs… the list goes on.

A “third party” means anyone who doesn’t have coverage under an insurance policy. Most home insurance policies extend coverage to direct family members of the person who bought the policy. If any of those covered people cause the damage, it’s not considered vandalism.

Some insurance policies use the term “vandalism and malicious acts” or “malicious mischief.” They’re all very closely related terms. If someone intentionally damages your home or your stuff (someone other than you or your family members), it’s almost always considered vandalism from an insurance perspective.

Will homeowner’s insurance cover vandalism?

Home insurance almost always covers vandalism and malicious acts. Even basic named perils policies typically include coverage for vandalism.

There are a couple of conditions, though, where your home insurance policy might not cover an act of vandalism.

First, the vandalized property must be something that you’re responsible for. If you’re a homeowner, that’s basically everything you own as well as your home itself.

It’s a little different for condo owners or renters, though.

A condo owner is only responsible for their own unit within the building. If their unit or their possessions are vandalized, their condo insurance policy would respond. If the vandal strikes the condo building’s shared property, however, the condo owner’s policy would not respond. Instead, the condo corporation would have to make a claim against the building’s master policy. Shared property in a condo is everything outside the individual units: the lobby, building exterior, hallways, elevators, and so on.

Renters, meanwhile, aren’t responsible for dealing with vandalism to any part of the building they live in; they only need to insure their own possessions. If vandals strike your apartment building or other rented home, your landlord will make a claim with their own insurance provider to cover the damage. Only if the vandals damaged your stuff would you need to make a claim on your tenant insurance policy.

The second exception to vandalism applies to vacant homes.

Vacant buildings are prime targets for vandals. As such, many home insurance providers don’t cover vandalism claims for vacant homes. Even those that do require the homeowner to notify them about the vacancy to have coverage.

Exactly when a home becomes “vacant” is sometimes confusing. Make sure to read our article on occupancy if you’re not sure.

Basically, you must inform your insurer if your home becomes vacant. If your home is vacant, but your insurer doesn’t know, they might not pay any claims for vandalism (or anything else, for that matter). That’s especially problematic since vacant homes are more susceptible to vandalism and break-ins.

Note that being away from home temporarily doesn’t make it vacant; your home isn’t considered vacant while you’re on vacation, for example.