Home Systems Protection

HSB Home Systems Protection (HSP) addresses the latest breakdown risks to homeowners today, and gives insurers the flexibility to customize each homeowner’s policy. There’s no other program available that protects your customers with so much added value.

HSP offers:

• Protection for home systems, such as water heaters; heating and air conditioning; appliances; and electronics
• Coverage for sensitive microelectronics which are used in many of the emerging technologies found in today’s homes
• Incentives for insureds to upgrade to energy- or water-efficient systems

HSP can be configured to provide broad coverage for a wide range of interior and exterior home systems.

Insurers have the flexibility to:

• Customize coverage per client to fit business strategies
• Offer broad protection at an affordable price
• Tailor limits and deductibles to each client’s needs

In addition to covering physical damage, HSP also provides for:

• The cost of perishable goods that spoil as a result of a home systems breakdown
• Additional living expenses and fair rental value if the home is uninhabitable during repair
• Extra costs to make temporary repairs and expedite permanent repairs or replacement
• Costs to clean up or dispose of pollutants that are the direct result of a home system breakdown
• Costs to use “green” materials and service providers that are recommended by a recognized environmental standards program

If covered home equipment requires replacement due to a home system breakdown, HSB will pay the additional cost to replace with equipment that is better for the environment, safer for people, or more energy or water efficient than the equipment being replaced.¹

¹ HSB will not pay to increase the size or capacity of the equipment and will not pay more than 150% of what the cost would have been to replace with like kind and quality. This condition does not apply to the replacement of component parts or to any property to which actual cash value applies and does not increase any of the applicable limits.

In our ongoing efforts to protect against further water or fire loss, HSB will distribute sensor devices and provide monitoring services. Coverage is triggered following any qualifying, covered, and paid Home Systems Protection loss involving hot water heaters, sump pumps, or electrical panels.

Homeowners’ reliance on home systems and appliances - and the microelectronics, firmware, and software that run them - makes the risk of breakdown a growing worry for homeowners. Damage to microelectronics can be undetectable, but a breakdown from firmware corruption or software failure is covered when replacement of one or more electronic circuitry components restores functionality.

Until now, property coverage required proof of physical damage, which could leave insureds without coverage for repair, replacement, and data loss caused by technology failures. However, HSB offers a first: Coverage is included in the Home Systems Protection limit, and there are no special sub-limits or deductibles.