Pool Cages, Screen Enclosures and Pools on a Florida Homeowners Policy

Is a pool cage covered by Florida homeowners insurance? The short answer

The three ways Florida policy forms treat a screened enclosure

Florida carriers do not share one policy form. The wording differs from one carrier to the next, even when two forms start from the same industry base. The state’s own coverage checklist warns that “many questions tend to arise regarding the coverage of attached or detached screened pool enclosures, screened porches, and other types of enclosures.” That checklist is the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s form OIR-B1-1670, which a carrier must deliver with a homeowners policy under section 627.4143 of the Florida Statutes. Across the market, the forms fall into three patterns.

• Some forms exclude the structure itself. The form lists aluminum-framed screened enclosures, pool cages, carports, and roofs made of screening, fabric, thatch or lattice as property that is not covered. On these forms it does not matter what caused the damage, because the structure is not part of the policy at all. Some of these forms offer no way to add it back.
• Some forms exclude hurricane damage to the enclosure and sell an endorsement that adds that coverage back. The base policy covers the enclosure for everyday losses but excludes damage caused by a hurricane. An endorsement, which is an add-on to the policy, restores hurricane coverage at a limit you choose. The limit you elect, rather than the cost of the cage, is the most the endorsement can pay, and the hurricane deductible still applies.
• Some forms treat an attached enclosure as part of the house and a detached one as an other structure. On these forms an attached enclosure falls under Coverage A, which is the dwelling coverage, and a detached one falls under Coverage B, which covers other structures on the property, with no hurricane exclusion. For a detached enclosure, the Coverage B limit is what matters. Many forms start Coverage B at a small percentage of Coverage A, often between 2 and 10 percent, and let you raise it.

Two details vary even within a pattern. Whether the form covers the screens themselves or only the frame differs from carrier to carrier. And the way a loss is settled matters. On the standard homeowners forms most Florida carriers file, structures that are not buildings are settled at actual cash value, which means the depreciated value, while buildings under Coverage A or Coverage B are settled at replacement cost. That is why a fence or a pool deck is paid differently from a garage, and it is one of the things to look at together.

Every carrier’s form is different and forms change, so this page describes the patterns rather than any one carrier’s wording. If your policy is with Citizens Property Insurance, the state-created insurer, we explain its treatment of screened enclosures in a separate article.

What a screened-enclosure endorsement usually covers, and the pitfalls to look for

Carrier websites usually describe a screened-enclosure endorsement as optional coverage. The endorsement form itself says what you actually bought. The table below lists the terms that come up in the enclosure endorsements we place, what many of them say about each term, and the pitfall we see most often with each one.

Common terms in Florida screened-enclosure endorsements, and the pitfalls to look for

General patterns from the endorsement forms we place. Every form is different; the declarations page shows the limit you actually purchased, and the endorsement text governs.

Three things are worth knowing about these endorsements. First, most of them apply only to hurricane damage, so the base policy still decides what happens to the cage the rest of the year. Second, the settlement basis matters more than it looks. A replacement-cost endorsement is written to rebuild a fifteen-year-old cage up to the limit, while an actual-cash-value endorsement settles at the depreciated value of the same cage at the same limit. Third, the endorsement limit does not add anything to Coverage A or Coverage B. That is why the limit should be sized to the cost of rebuilding the cage, not to the value of the house.

A worked example, and how much coverage to carry on the cage

Most of a cage claim under an endorsement comes down to two numbers, the limit you elected and the hurricane deductible on the policy, and the endorsement’s settlement basis, replacement cost or actual cash value, governs the rest. Here is an illustration, with round figures that are not a quote and not an estimate of what a cage costs.

Illustration: a pool cage under a hurricane endorsement

These are round figures for illustration only, not an estimate of what a cage costs. Recovery on any loss depends on the form, the endorsement’s terms, the limit elected and how the policy applies its deductibles.

The point of the example is that you choose the limit when you buy the policy. If your cage would cost $50,000 to rebuild and you carry a $25,000 endorsement, the other $25,000 is yours to pay after a storm. Our Florida hurricane deductible guide walks through how that percentage becomes a dollar figure.

The limit we recommend grows with the size of the cage. For years, $10,000 was the usual limit, and it is still the starting figure on many carrier worksheets. On the cages we insure today, it is rarely enough. We recommend at least $20,000 for a small enclosure on a small home, and more as the footprint and height grow. A two-story enclosure of 1,500 square feet can cost more than $100,000 to replace after a storm. Get a replacement estimate from a screen contractor, or bring the original build invoice, and we recommend a limit that is at least that number. Then compare it with your hurricane deductible, so the endorsement is worth what you pay for it.

How a pool changes whether a carrier will insure your home, where it sits in the policy, and your liability coverage

A pool affects three parts of your homeowners policy, and carriers look at it when they decide whether to write the home.

• A pool affects whether a carrier will write the home. Fence and screen rules come from each carrier’s underwriting guidelines, the rules it uses to decide which homes it will insure, rather than from a statute. Carriers commonly require a permanent barrier around a pool, usually a fence, a wall or a screen enclosure, and some do not accept removable mesh child-safety fencing as that barrier. A pool with no barrier, a diving board or a slide can make a home ineligible with some carriers, and on the applications we place, a trampoline is declined or excluded by most. We explain the underwriting findings that most often cancel a new policy in a separate article.
• A pool falls under different parts of the policy depending on the form. On many forms an in-ground pool that adjoins the house is part of Coverage A, an in-ground pool separated from the house by clear space is an other structure under Coverage B, and an above-ground pool is personal property. Other forms place every in-ground pool under Coverage A whether or not it touches the house, and some describe in-ground pools as other structures under Coverage B. None of it is flood coverage, and the hurricane deductible applies to a hurricane loss on the pool and its equipment.
• A pool raises your liability exposure. A pool is usually the largest liability exposure on a Florida property, meaning the risk that someone is hurt in or around the water and you are held legally responsible. The personal liability limit on the home policy belongs well above the minimum most carriers quote, and a personal umbrella policy belongs above it. We also recommend uninsured-motorist coverage on the auto policy and the umbrella’s own uninsured-motorist endorsement, typically $1 million, wherever the carrier offers it. We walk through who needs an umbrella policy in Florida in a separate article.

What the pool safety law requires. Florida’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, section 515.27 of the Florida Statutes, requires a new residential pool to have at least one of five safety features before it passes final inspection: an enclosure that meets the barrier rules of section 515.29, which call for a barrier at least four feet high on the outside with no gaps a young child could pass through; an approved safety pool cover; exit alarms on the doors and windows that open to the pool; self-closing and self-latching devices on those doors, with the release no lower than 54 inches above the floor; or a certified pool alarm. Whether a particular screen cage meets the barrier rule is decided at permit and inspection. Meeting the statute has nothing to do with whether the cage itself is insured. A cage can be the barrier that satisfies the county and the underwriter and still be a structure the policy form does not cover.

Fences, detached structures and flood

Fences and other backyard structures fall under Coverage B on most Florida homeowners forms. On the standard homeowners forms most Florida carriers file, Coverage B is for structures set apart from the house by clear space, and a structure connected to the house by only a fence or a utility line still counts as set apart. A fence therefore falls under Coverage B, the other-structures coverage, rather than under Coverage A with the house. Sheds, detached garages, pool houses and docks are Coverage B on most forms, and the hurricane deductible applies to them. Structures that are not buildings, which include fences and pool decks, are settled at actual cash value on those forms unless an endorsement provides replacement cost. The same forms also exclude fence, patio and pool damage from freezing and from most causes of collapse.

Flood coverage is bought separately, and the federal flood form leaves out backyard structures. A standard homeowners policy excludes flood, so flood coverage comes from a federal flood policy, a private flood policy or a flood endorsement that some carriers add to their own home policy. The federal Standard Flood Insurance Policy dwelling form does not insure open structures, personal property outside a building, fences, retaining walls, seawalls, docks, decks and patios outside the exterior walls, or hot tubs, spas and swimming pools and their heaters, filters, pumps and pipes wherever they sit. It never mentions screened enclosures by name. It does not insure open structures, and its definition of a building requires two or more outside rigid walls and a fully secured roof, which a screen cage does not have. The one other-structures allowance is a detached garage, at your option, up to 10 percent of the dwelling limit, and using it reduces the dwelling limit. So for a pool home, the flood question is the same as for any Florida address: how much dwelling and contents coverage to carry, priced across the NFIP, private flood carriers and flood endorsements. The federal form leaves the cage and the pool out. Private flood forms and flood endorsements set their own terms, so on those two routes the answer depends on the form you buy, and it is one of the things we go through together.

What the Florida Building Code requires of a screen enclosure

Aluminum screen enclosures are engineered structures under Chapter 20 of the Florida Building Code. The frame must be designed for wind pressure in both directions using the code’s tables, and the aluminum pieces that make up the frame must meet a minimum wall thickness. Removable vinyl, glass or acrylic panels must carry a decal saying they are to be removed when wind speeds exceed 75 miles per hour. An alternative design method assumes the screen panels are removed, retracted or cut before the wind arrives. That is an engineering standard for how the cage is built. It has no bearing on whether the cage is insured.

Wind-mitigation credits come from features of the house, not from the cage. The uniform mitigation inspection documents roof shape, roof-deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections and opening protection, which is why a wind-mitigation inspection can lower the premium on the home without changing how the policy form treats the enclosure.

What to do after a storm damages your cage

Report a damaged cage to your carrier, online or through its claims line, with photos from before and after if you have them. The carrier adjusts the claim under the form and any endorsement you hold, and the hurricane deductible applies to a hurricane loss. Keep the contractor’s written estimate and any permit for the replacement, and ask the carrier which coverage part the enclosure falls under before the estimate is written, because a Coverage B structure and a Coverage A addition are paid from different limits. Every carrier’s claims contacts are on one page.

Before hurricane season is the time to work through this together. Tell us what you want covered on the enclosure and at what limit, and we work with you to find a carrier that offers that coverage, with a Coverage B limit that matches what actually stands in the yard. Our statewide carrier guide lists the Florida carriers we compare and explains how we define best.