Would your insurance cover THAT? Christmas movie edition

What is the average home insurance policy?

If you’ve seen our previous home insurance article in this series, you know the first thing we need to do is define what the average home insurance policy is. 

When it comes to your home insurance policy, there are two main types of coverage: open and named peril. A peril is a cause of damage to you, your home or your belongings. Named perils means every peril that is covered will be listed. Open means that you can assume that most perils are covered, and instead exclusions or what is not covered will be written in the policy. 

The most common type of homeowners policy in the U.S. is called an HO-3 which would cover your home and other structures on the property on an open peril basis. It would cover your personal property from named perils.

Now assuming our movie families have the most common type of homeowners policy, let’s look at a few favorites and guess which claims would be paid out by their insurance companies. (Warning: Spoilers ahead. Although this article mostly discusses damage, not film endings, if you haven't seen one of these, read at your own risk.) 

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

This 1989 film features Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold who is determined to make the perfect Christmas for his family — and ends up causing some not insignificant damage to his home along the way. 

In case you haven’t seen it (or to refresh your memory if you have):

• He blows a circuit hanging Christmas lights and also damages an outside gutter after falling off the roof.
• He knocks a hole in the ceiling after falling through the attic.
• A SWAT team destroys the front door and multiple windows after a man is kidnapped and brought into his home.

According to one source, total damages might be in the neighborhood of $52,000^[1].

Let’s focus on just one event:

Home Alone

Another cautionary tale disguised as a Christmas movie: Home Alone tells the story of Kevin McCallister, mistakenly left behind by his parents who then must protect his home from two robbers. 

Kevin sets a number of “traps" to thwart the burglars that also cause significant damage to his family home. For example:

• He ices the front steps to make the intruders slip.
• He covers an interior stairway with tar.
• And he rigs a hot iron to swing down and hit a burglar in the face.

One source estimates the damage caused to amount to around $11,800^[2]. Intentional damage to one’s home by a homeowner (or their offspring) is of course not covered by any homeowners policy.

But what about the robbers?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Jim Carrey’s take on the title role of the classic Suess story maintains all the personal property theft fun of the original and adds a little extra destruction. 

This includes:

• Lighting up a Christmas tree with a flame thrower.
• Smashing a bed through a bay window.
• And damaging several building exteriors. 

Total damages to Whoville caused by The Grinch’s spree are estimated by one source as around $191,000^[4].

So let’s say you’re a Who. You have your personal property restored by The Grinch in the end, but you still have some damage to your home, can you file a claim just for that?

Gremlins

Perhaps not your typical feel-good Christmas movie, but definitely a good example of property destruction. Gremlins tells the story of a boy whose pet spawns a pack of gremlins who wreak havoc on his town.

Their reign of terror leads to:

• The destruction of a man’s home with a snow plow.
• And the explosion of a movie theater (in an attempt to destroy them).

This one will take a little fudging as obviously no policy will cover gremlins, as gremlins do not exist. However, if we consider the gremlins to be an animal: