facebook twitter instagram linkedin google youtube vimeo tumblr yelp rss email podcast phone blog external search brokercheck brokercheck Play Pause
If Santa Fell Off the Roof, Would Your Insurance Cover It? Here's How Your Insurance Company Would Handle These Christmas Movie Mishaps Thumbnail

If Santa Fell Off the Roof, Would Your Insurance Cover It? Here's How Your Insurance Company Would Handle These Christmas Movie Mishaps

Insurance

The season isn’t complete until you’ve watched your favorite holiday movie, right? And with the world continuing to social distance, it’s likely you’ll have some extra time on your hands this month to relax, unwind and enjoy some Christmas classics.

Let’s have a little fun this holiday season and imagine how an insurance company might handle a few Christmas movie mishaps.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

There are plenty of mishaps the Griswold family faces around the holidays, but there’s one particularly damaging instance that stands out - at least from an insurance perspective. The Griswold family (well, let’s face it, Clark mostly) is excited to bring home their oversized Christmas tree. And while it makes a beautiful addition to the living room, included is an unwelcomed guest.

A squirrel pops out unexpectedly from the tree on a quiet evening, causing the family to panic, the dog to go wild and chaos to ensue. Subsequently, the Griswold family home is left with some serious damages caused by the dog and squirrel alike. Would these damages be covered by their homeowners insurance policy?

The answer is - typically no. While every policy is different, most homeowners policies do not cover damage caused by rodents (yes, squirrels are rodents) or damage caused by pets including dogs and cats.

A Christmas Story

“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

And towards the end of “A Christmas Story,” Ralphie nearly does. Luckily, Ralphie doesn’t require medical attention after discharging the Red Ryder BB gun. But he does end up breaking his glasses. Would a replacement pair be covered by insurance?

The Affordable Care Act requires vision and dental care be provided for children through all health plans - whether offered through the Marketplace, an individual insurance market or through an employer-sponsored plan.1 While there are exceptions for older plans with grandfathered status, the majority of health plans still offer this benefit.

Pediatric vision benefits typically include annual eye exams, corrective lenses (glasses and/or contacts) and vision screening. Depending on the requirements and limits of Ralphie’s health insurance coverage, a replacement pair of glasses very well could be covered - but that doesn’t exempt him from a mouth full of red soap.

The Santa Clause

Nothing’s more traumatizing than seeing Santa fall off the roof - just ask Charlie and Scott Calvin. As most of us remember, this Christmas classic continues with Scott putting on Santa’s suit, growing a beard and a belly and, eventually, moving to the North Pole. While we can presume the original Santa… ahem, kicked the candy cane… for insurance purposes, let’s assume instead he was gravely injured.

How would Scott Calvin’s homeowners insurance handle an injury on his property? These policies include liability coverage, which will typically protect homeowners like Scott from bodily injury lawsuits - if, say, Mrs. Clause wanted to pursue legal action. It’s possible his homeowners policy includes no-fault medical coverage as well, which would help pay the medical bills of the injured party, if they were hurt on your property. 

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Instances of robbery and personal larceny increase by about 20 percent in the month of December.2 While it’s unclear whether or not that statistic includes data collected from Whoville, Cindy Lou Who and the rest of the village have plenty of reason to be wary this holiday season.

It’d be pretty remarkable if your household received a visit from the Grinch, but if a burglar does take the presents from under your tree - is the cost to replace them covered by insurance?

It’s likely that if property is stolen from your home (i.e. Christmas gifts from under the tree), your personal property coverage under your homeowners insurance will help cover the cost to replace them. In this instance, you’ll want to have receipts showing the value of the item (hopefully the Whos were organized). From there, your insurance company may send out a claims adjustor or use a formula to determine how much you will get back through your insurance claim.

From our family to yours, we hope you enjoyed reliving some cherished Christmas classics and their greatest mishaps. Here’s to wishing you a healthy, happy and Merry Christmas - and one free from squirrels and falling Santas!


  1. https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/webmd-aca-kids-dental-and-vision#1
  2. https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/understanding-the-reality-of-holiday-related-crimes-49947

This content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information, and provided by Twenty Over Ten. It may not be used for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.


Disclaimer
Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC website or incorporated herein, and C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided solely for convenience, educational, and informational purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC . To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of the C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ’s current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request. DISCLAIMER OF TAX ADVICE: Any discussion contained herein cannot be considered to be tax advice. Actual tax advice would require a detailed and careful analysis of the facts and applicable law, which we expect would be time consuming and costly. We have not made and have not been asked to make that type of analysis in connection with any advice given in this blog post. As a result, we are required to advise you that any Federal tax advice rendered in this blog is not intended or written to be used and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by the IRS. In the event you would like us to perform the type of analysis that is necessary for us to provide an opinion, that does not require the above disclaimer, as always, please feel free to contact us.