Equipment breakdown

Not all homeowners policies include equipment breakdown coverage, but Nationwide^® Private Client offers broad coverage. Simple misuse, faulty installation or poor maintenance can cause a breakdown that is costly to repair or replace. Intended for everyday maintenance, home and extended warranties can be very limited and expensive. Equipment breakdown coverage protects your clients from large losses, which can easily cost thousands of dollars.

How you may be at risk

Nationwide Private Client’s most common equipment breakdown claims involve losses to appliances. One recent claim was submitted for a fully customized deluxe built-in oven that broke down. Our client requested that the inspection take place the very next day, so the claims team accommodated the request and worked closely with the client to ensure that the process was easy. Immediately upon inspection, it was determined that the cause of loss was due to an electrical breakdown, which caused severe damage to the oven. Fortunately for our client, he had a Nationwide Private Client homeowners policy that covered this breakdown,¹ allowing us to submit our findings and request a full replacement (for the same quality of oven) to our reinsurance partner, Mutual Boiler Re. Our client let us know that he was very pleased with our proactive, caring and expeditious claims service.

How Nationwide^® Private Client responds

With Nationwide Private Client, you can enjoy the added benefits of equipment breakdown protection, as we include our equipment breakdown enhancement endorsement automatically with every Nationwide Private Client homeowners policy.

If an appliance or other household system breaks down,² our coverage provides up to $100,000 after a $500 deductible for the repair or replacement of the item. Examples of covered items include home infrastructure systems such as HVAC, water heaters, boilers, air/water filtration, pool equipment, chair lifts, alarm systems and electronic or fiber-optic equipment within the home. In addition, it covers personal property, including appliances, computers, entertainment systems, consumer electronics, exercise equipment and other power equipment.

Examples of covered equipment and potential costs:

• Home entertainment equipment: $5,000+ (for example, breakdown of internal electronic components³)
• Kitchen and laundry appliances: $3,000 to $20,000 (for example, refrigerator compressor damage — $7,500³)
• Chair lifts and elevators: $1,500 to $25,000 (for example, main control panel damage³)
• Home security monitor systems: $1,000+ (for example, main control panel damage³) 
• Furnace, boiler or heat pumps: $2,000 to $12,000 (for example, gas water heater tank rupture — $4,850³)
• Solar, wind and geothermal heating: $10,000 to $50,000 (for example, electrical arcing or motor turbine damage³)
• Air conditioning: $3,000 to $12,000 (for example, from compressor damage due to an electrical short — $3,295)
• Water purification and filtration: $1,500 to $5,000 (for example, regenerator motor damage)

Why it’s important for you

Given the fact that equipment breakdown is not a covered cause of loss under traditional homeowners policies, the time of a loss to your home is no time to discover what’s not covered in your homeowners policy.

Nationwide Private Client offers these added benefits:

• Coverage up to $100,000 per occurrence, subject to a $500 per occurrence deductible
• Higher limits than competitor forms for refrigerated property, expediting expenses and pollution cleanup; and up to 150% of the cost to repair or replace an item of the same quality equipment that is better for the environment.

• Specialized claims service: Our team of problem-solvers is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.