Home owners insurance is designed to cover against many types of loss including losses as the result of natural disasters. Home insurance policies cover disasters caused by wind, rain and fire. They do not cover disasters such as floods and earthquakes. A home insurance policy can include various coverages for natural disasters depending on the location. Anything that is cot covered by an insurance policy is always indicated in the exclusions section of the policy.
Most home insurance policies provide for coverage as the result of wind, rain or fire. Many times though these perils are the direct result of some other disaster causing event such as a tornado. A tornado has the ability to cause damage from wind which then makes a home vulnerable to another peril such as water. Fire is another peril that is covered by a home insurance policy. Fires though have to be accidental of the result of lightning from a storm. Fires generally come in two types and they are accidental or intentional.
Natural disaster that are not covered by a home owners insurance policy would include floods and earthquakes. These are perils that need to have coverage provided by an additional policy. Normally, policies for flood are provided by the Federal Government but can usually be purchased through any insurance company that sells home insurance. Earthquake coverage is also a separate policy that is separate from a home owners policy. Many insurers do not provide coverage for earthquakes because the costs are too great. That is why there are individual policies that can be purchased specifically for earthquakes.
Home insurance and other types of coverages differ greatly based on location and the likelihood of suffering a natural disaster. People that are in a flood plain are generally required to purchase flood insurance while those in an earthquake prone area purchase earthquake coverage. Most home insurance policies provide coverage for damage as the result of a tornado. A tornado requires specific conditions for them to form. Many people that live in low elevations such as those in Florida and New Orleans have learned the hard way about the need for additional insurance policies.
Insurance policies are basically an insurance contract. As a result they have certain exclusions are perils that are not covered by the policy. Insurers do this because they do not want to provide coverage for things that have very little control over. This is why it is a good idea to read over the exclusions of a policy before suffering a loss.