CLAIMS GLOSSARY · FLORIDA & NEW JERSEY

Wear and Tear Exclusion

Also called: wear and tear, deterioration exclusion, maintenance exclusion, age-related damage

By Nelson Avila, Licensed Florida Public Adjuster (License G332385) · Florida Certified Contractor
Homeland Public Adjusters · Last reviewed: October 2026

Definition

The wear and tear exclusion removes coverage for damage that happens gradually through age, use and exposure: worn shingles, deteriorated seals, rust, rot, corrosion, settling. It is written to keep the policy from becoming a maintenance contract. It is not written to exclude a sudden event that happens to an aging component, and the resulting damage from that event is usually restored by the ensuing loss exception.

Full guide: Roof Claim Denied for Wear and Tear or Cosmetic Damage

Where it shows up

Roof claims first: carriers inspect a 15-year-old shingle roof after a storm and attribute the damage to age, granule loss and thermal cracking rather than wind. Then water claims from older plumbing, window and door leaks, and stucco cracks. The exclusion appears on every property form and is paired with deterioration, latent defect, mechanical breakdown, and “continuous or repeated seepage.”

Florida

Florida’s roof-age rules changed the context: under §627.7011(5) an insurer may not refuse coverage solely because a roof is less than 15 years old, and for older roofs must allow an inspection showing five years of useful life. A roof the carrier insured is a roof the carrier accepted; the question after a storm is what the wind did to it, which test squares, creased or lifted shingles, broken seal strips and missing tabs show. The §627.7142 Homeowner Claims Bill of Rights and §627.70131 require the carrier to state the policy basis in writing; “wear and tear” without an engineering or roofing basis is a conclusion, not a basis. Our article on roof claims denied as wear and tear walks through the rebuttal.

New Jersey

New Jersey carriers use the same exclusion on ice dam, roof and plumbing claims, often alongside the freezing-of-plumbing condition. N.J.A.C. 11:2-17.7 requires written reasons for a denial; a report that documents the storm event, the component’s condition and the mechanism of failure is the answer.

What to document

The storm or event: NOAA data, date, wind speeds, hail reports.
Evidence of sudden force: creases, lifted tabs, broken seals, impact marks, a dated photo of the component before the loss if one exists.
An expert opinion (roofer, engineer, plumber) on cause, not just condition.
The ensuing damage: interior water, ceilings, contents.

Frequently asked questions

My roof is old. Can the carrier deny a storm claim as wear and tear?

It can try. Age does not decide the claim; cause does. If the storm damaged the roof, the damage is covered even if the roof was worn, though a roof payment schedule or ACV endorsement may reduce what is paid. If the roof simply failed from age with no event, the exclusion applies.

Is a leak from an old pipe wear and tear?

The pipe is. The sudden release of water and the damage it does are generally covered as an ensuing loss, subject to the policy’s water sublimit and the seepage exclusion for leaks you could have seen.

Can I dispute a wear-and-tear denial?

Yes: request the written basis, get an independent inspection, reopen or supplement the claim with that report, and use mediation or appraisal if coverage is admitted but the amount is not.

Related terms

Ensuing Loss

An ensuing loss provision is the exception inside an exclusion that says "any ensuing loss not excluded is covered." The excluded event (faulty workmanship, wear and tear, a corroded pipe, a…

Read the definition ›

Policy Exclusions

A policy exclusion is a provision that takes a cause of loss, a type of property, or a situation out of coverage that the insuring agreement would otherwise provide.

Read the definition ›

Roof Payment Schedule

A roof payment schedule (roof surfacing payment schedule) is a policy endorsement that pays a roof loss at a percentage of replacement cost set by the roof's age and material, instead of full…

Read the definition ›

Actual Cash Value vs. Replacement Cost (ACV vs. RCV)

Replacement cost value (RCV) is what it costs to repair or replace damaged property with new materials of like kind and quality today.

Read the definition ›

If this is your loss, call Homeland before you talk to the insurance company: Florida (305) 783-3777, New Jersey (732) 517-3777, 24 hours. A licensed public adjuster reviews the claim for free and calls you back right away. No Recovery, No Fee.

Sources

This article is for general information only and is not legal or insurance advice. Statutes, regulations and policy wording change, and how they apply depends on your own policy and the facts of your claim. Homeland Public Adjusters is a public adjusting firm, not a law firm.

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