I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to people's homes. This damage was not caused by storms or fires or high water. The damage I see is caused by wild animals. Sometimes homeowner insurance covers the loss. Often times it doesn't.

I own and operate a nuisance wildlife removal service in Flint, Michigan. In this article I will review two actual cases of animal damage for you. These two cases combined cost these two homeowners almost $20,000.

The first situation involved a family that took a month long vacation from their home in Flint, Michigan. They rented a house for a month and had a wonderful time in sunny Florida. Upon their return they found their house ransacked. Chairs were tipped over, pictures were ripped from the walls, and the curtains and drapes were ripped to shreds. Every item on every shelf and had been flung to the floor. Boxes of cereal and other food were ripped open and the contents scattered all over the floors. The heartbreak really sunk in when they saw that the vandals had broken every Royal Daulton (a very expensive collectable) that they had is a large display cabinet.

The homeowners backed out and called the police. The officers entered the house and heard rustling in a partially open closet. They opened the door and had a fox squirrel jump out at them. It ran into another bedroom and they shut the door. That is when I got the call to come remove it. My fee was less than the value of their cheapest Royal Daulton collectable.

Because squirrels are deemed to be "rodents" by the insurance industry, their homeowner's policy did not cover their loss. They asked me for a statement about how the squirrel got into their house to present to their insurance company, as they were going to appeal the denial.

The second scenario I have for you is of a lady that had between 300 and 500 bats in her house. The bats entered the house through several gaps in the exterior. They lived in the soffits and in the attic. She could hear noises in the walls and in the ceiling but attributed it to mice. She tried mouse traps and mouse poisons but the noises persisted. Winter came and things quieted down. As Spring and Summer came on, the noises got worse than ever. The house took on a strange, strong, pungent odor. The ceilings started to show "water spots."

One night she saw bats coming out of her soffits. Lots of bats! I got the call to remove the bats from her home. When I inspected, I determined that she had at least two colonies and possibly three. I waited at night to watch them leave and it was one heck of a show!

Bats were everywhere!

I sealed the house and placed devices that allowed the bats to leave but not re-enter. The attic had piles of bat droppings (guano) that were a foot deep! Clean up of this attic was going to consist of tearing out all the insulation and replacing it with new. The bat urine had left the boards in the attic stained white. This would have to be sealed to prevent odors from continuing to permeate the house. Drywall would have to be replaced as well.

Most homeowner insurance policies cover damage created by bats. Some even cover the expense of removing the bats. She turned in her claim and was turned down flat. Her policy specifically stated that rodent and bat damage are not listed for coverage.

Both of these two animal damage situations could have been prevented with a Preventative Home Inspection.

It's time, right now, for you to call your insurance agent. Ask if you would have been covered by either of these instances. Review your policy and ask if any animal damage is specifically excluded.

I do not sell insurance. I am a homeowner and I have insurance for my own home. I know that it's not on the top of your list to make that call to your insurance agent. You may be glad at a later date that you took the time to do it.

Now go make that call.