5+ years writing insurance and personal finance topics
Auto, home, health, and life insurance expertise
Elizabeth has extensive insurance industry experience, having written for Insureon, Rate Retriever, and Insurify. She’s also finance and insurance editor for Car and Driver.
3+ years experience in insurance and personal finance editing
Katie uses her knowledge and expertise as a licensed property and casualty agent in Massachusetts to help readers understand the complexities of insurance shopping.
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Hoarding is a disorder that causes people to accumulate an excessive number of items, which leads to clutter in their homes. People who exhibit hoarding behavior typically have an underlying mental health condition, like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or depression, but traumatic events and self-neglect can also trigger it.[1]
Your homeowners insurance policy won’t usually cover losses resulting from homeowner negligence. But your insurer may cover hoarding cleanup in some situations, like if a fire destroys your home and you need to remove the burned debris before making repairs.[2]
Here’s what you need to know about home insurance coverage for hoarding cleanup or resulting damage.
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Dangers of hoarding for homeowners
Homeowners insurance protects your home and belongings against potential losses like fires, vandalism, and natural disasters. But a hoarding situation can create a dangerous environment for homeowners and guests.
For example, hoarding can increase the chance of mold growth, trip hazards, and air quality issues, which puts homeowners, family members living in the home, and guests at risk of certain illnesses and injuries. Hoarding can also lead to water-damage issues or pest infestations you often won’t notice until major damage occurs.
Hoarding presents risks that a standard home insurance policy may not cover, including:
Fire risks: Paper, plastic, and other flammable materials can pile up when you hoard items. Stockpiling flammable items near heating vents, stoves, power outlets, or extension cords can start a fire.
Hidden water damage: Piles of clutter can mask water damage from broken pipes, roof leaks, or other sources of moisture. The longer it takes to resolve an issue, the bigger the problem can grow.
Mold growth: A plumbing leak or food waste can lead to mold and fungus growth. Damp spots can harbor mildew and support the growth of mold spores, which can travel throughout the house by airflow and introduce serious health risks.
Air quality issues: Rotting food, leaky plumbing, and other waste can lead to dust, odor, and ammonia in your home, creating a serious air-quality issue. A home’s poor air quality can make breathing difficult and cause respiratory problems.
Pest and insect infestations: Cluttered trash and rotting food can attract insects, rodents, and other vermin, which can spread bacteria and damage the home’s walls, wiring, and foundation, creating structural problems.
Trip hazards: An excessive accumulation of items can make navigating a home difficult and lead to serious accidents. Family members and friends are more likely to trip or have objects fall on them, which could lead to third-party liability lawsuits.
Deferred maintenance: Some areas of a hoarder’s home may be inaccessible, which can make maintenance and repairs difficult. Delaying repairs to flooring, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems can lead to major issues that homeowners otherwise could’ve prevented.
Blocked exits: If you hoard items, you run the risk of blocking pathways and exits throughout your home. Blocked exits make it difficult for you to get out of the house quickly, which increases the risk of injury or death if a fire or another emergency occurs.
Hoarding can affect home insurance in a number of ways. Insuring people with hoarding tendencies is risky for insurers because of the increased likelihood of negligence and claims caused by deferred maintenance or repairs.
For example, if you don’t fix a broken pipe, water damage could cause significant damage to the home. By the time you identify the issue and file a home insurance claim, the structural damage will likely be much more expensive to repair. Additionally, the home insurance adjuster might have trouble determining which water damage was pre-existing and which was new.
Another thing to consider is the safety of insurance professionals entering the home. In a hoarding situation, it might not be safe for an insurance adjuster to walk through the home to assess the damage. Even in this case, it’s unlikely the insurance company would pay for hoarding cleanup — that would be the homeowner’s responsibility.
Important Information
Because hoarders keep massive amounts of items in their homes, it also creates issues around their coverage needs. Typically, the coverage limit for personal belongings is 50%–70% of the dwelling coverage limit, with lower limits for valuables. As a result, it’s possible that a standard home insurance policy wouldn’t provide enough insurance coverage for all the items a hoarder has in their home.[3]
How hoarding affects renters
Hoarding doesn’t just affect homeowners — it can also affect renters. People who rent a home from someone else and have hoarding tendencies could potentially face eviction from the property. The homeowner might work with the renter to address the issue and allow them to stay, but the tenant would likely have to pay for the cleanup.
Additionally, if the tenant files an insurance claim for damage caused by their hoarding tendencies, it’s possible that their renters insurance policy won’t cover the claim.
How insurance companies handle hoarding insurance claims
People with a hoarding disorder may face issues when filing home insurance claims. Insurance claims related to hoarding are often more serious than standard home insurance claims, and they pose additional risks for the insurance company and adjuster.
When it comes to hoarding claims, every home insurance policy is slightly different. Some homeowners insurance policies may explicitly exclude all losses caused by hoarding. Other policies might cover some types of hoarding claims, like fires and water damage, but not others, such as structural collapse.
The process of handling a hoarding insurance claim will depend on the specific insurance company. Typically, the insurance company will assign an adjuster to assess the damage, which requires an in-home visit. The adjuster will need to determine whether your home is safe to enter. If it’s not, it could lead to an automatic claim denial.
If the home is safe, the adjuster will need to carefully evaluate the scene and figure out what caused the damage. This can be difficult in a home filled with clutter, and it may require hoarding-cleanup services before the adjuster can investigate.
If the home insurance policy covers the claim, the insurance company will make an offer for compensation. If the insurer pays for the debris removal, the company might subtract it from the final claim settlement.
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Hoarding cleanup cost
The average cost of services from a biohazard cleanup company range from $1,000 to $4,000. But the cost can vary significantly depending on factors like your location, the size of the space, and the condition of the home.
Once the cleanup company clears the space out, you might also need to pay for services like mold remediation or pest removal, which will add to the total cost.
Home insurance and hoarding cleanup FAQs
Hoarding is a serious disorder that has risks for homeowners and their homes. Here’s some additional information about hoarding and how it can affect home insurance.
Who pays for cleanup for hoarders?
Typically, homeowners are responsible for paying for debris removal and cleanup if they file a home insurance claim related to hoarding. Most home insurance policies only cover sudden and accidental losses, which generally excludes hoarding. But every home insurance policy is different, and some policies may cover hoarding cleanup.
You can talk to your insurance agent or check your policy documents to see what your policy does and doesn’t cover.
Does Medicare cover hoarding cleanup?
No. Original Medicare doesn’t cover hoarding cleanup. But Medicare Advantage plans that provide additional benefits might offer financial assistance for certain non-medical services, which could include hoarding cleanup. You can talk to your Medicare Advantage provider to find out whether the plan covers debris removal and hoarding cleanup.
How much does it cost to declutter a hoarder house?
The average cost of hoarding cleanup from a biohazard company ranges between $1,000 and $4,000. But the cost depends on the home’s size, condition, and amount of clutter that needs removal. Cleaning a two-bedroom apartment is likely cheaper than decluttering a four-bedroom home with multiple floors, for example.
What’s the difference between hoarding and clutter?
Hoarding and clutter are different things. Hoarding means that a person’s living space has excessive items that often serve no purpose and make it difficult to use their living space as intended. Often, people who hoard have another mental health disorder, like OCD, ADHD, or depression. It can have a serious effect on a person’s quality of life.
Clutter can make a person’s home unorganized, but it’s a temporary situation with a relatively easy fix.
What happens if you clean a hoarder’s house?
Cleaning a hoarder’s house can pose a number of risks. The home may have unforeseen damage that can cause structural issues and potentially lead to collapse while you’re inside. You might encounter mold, pest infestations, and air-quality issues that could affect your health. You may also encounter trip hazards that can lead to a serious injury.
If you need help cleaning a hoarder’s home, it’s best to hire a professional team that has the right protective equipment and training.
Elizabeth Rivelli is a freelance writer covering insurance and personal finance. She has extensive knowledge of various insurance lines, including property and casualty, health, and life insurance. Her byline has been featured in dozens of publications, including Investopedia, Forbes, Bankrate, NextAdvisor, and Insurance.com.
Elizabeth has been a contributor at Insurify since October 2022.
Edited byKatie PowersAuto and Life Insurance Editor
Katie PowersAuto and Life Insurance Editor
Licensed auto and home insurance agent
3+ years experience in insurance and personal finance editing
Katie uses her knowledge and expertise as a licensed property and casualty agent in Massachusetts to help readers understand the complexities of insurance shopping.
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