January 17, 2012
By: Bruce Berry
A Pennsylvania couple is continuing to rebuild their home after it was damaged during a landslide last year.
The Everson family told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the event last April caused serious damage to their home. In addition, because they didn't have landslide coverage, which isn't included in a standard home insurance policy, they aren't sure how much repairs will eventually cost.
Insurance experts told the paper that while landslide insurance protection is available, it isn't included in standard policies, much like coverage for earthquakes and floods.
"It's such a highly unusual circumstance, so it's the type of thing that's not anticipated," Michael Barry, spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, told the paper. "It doesn't make it into the standard list of covered perils."
The paper says roughly 30 landslides happen annually in Allegheny County, partially because of the makeup of the area's soil.
Some state lawmakers have proposed bills which would make landslide insurance easier to obtain for local residents, or require insurers to cover them. However, those measures have not yet become law.
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