Bedbugs, Lava And Bowling Balls: Inside My Homeowners Insurance Policy (NPR)

In this entertaining piece from NPR’s Mourning Edition, Jacob Goldstein, from Planet Money, shares his insights into how insurance works by looking at a typical homeowners insurance policy.

Bedbugs, Lava And Bowling Balls: Inside My Homeowners Insurance Policy

by Jacob Goldstein

My homeowners insurance policy reads as though somebody took all of the bad things that can happen in the world and divided them into two buckets: stuff that is covered and stuff that is not covered.

I’m covered for damage from fire, lightning and malicious mischief. I’m covered if a volcano spews lava onto my house. It’s right here under “Additional Coverages.” Paragraph 10. “Volcanic Action.”

But there’s this other section, “Losses Not Insured,” that tells you how insurance really works.

Listen to the rest of Jacob’s story here.