Riot and civil commotion coverage

Yes. A standard homeowners policy covers physical damage caused by a riot or civil commotion. Your belongings are covered because "riot or civil commotion" is one of the 16 named perils on Coverage C, and your house and other structures are covered because Coverages A and B insure any direct physical loss the form does not exclude, and riot is not an excluded cause. What the ISO HO-3 does exclude is war, which the form defines to include civil war, insurrection, rebellion and revolution, and that line is the one worth understanding.

This guide uses the ISO form HO 00 03 05 11. Your insurer's own form and your state's amendatory endorsements control, so read the perils and exclusions in your policy before relying on any of this.

What the HO-3 says about riot

Riot or civil commotion appears by name in two places in the HO-3: as peril 4 of the 16 perils that insure personal property under Coverage C, and in the short list of perils that protect trees, shrubs and plants (see are trees, shrubs and landscaping covered?). It does not appear in the Coverage A and B section at all, because those coverages are open perils. The form simply pays for direct physical loss to the dwelling unless an exclusion applies. For a refresher on how the two systems differ, see named perils vs open perils coverage.

The HO-3 does not define "riot" or "civil commotion." In practice the definition rarely decides a claim, because the damage that follows a riot nearly always fits another covered cause of loss on its own. A claim adjuster will usually sort the loss by what physically happened:

Because the damage is sorted this way, you rarely need to prove that "a riot" occurred. You need to show direct physical loss from fire, vandalism or theft. The details of those perils are in fire and smoke damage: how homeowners insurance responds, vandalism and malicious mischief coverage and theft and burglary claims under a homeowners policy.

Riot is not war: the exclusions that matter

The HO-3 Section I exclusions remove coverage for loss caused directly or indirectly by "War," and the form lists what that includes: undeclared war, civil war, insurrection, rebellion or revolution; a warlike act by a military force; and destruction, seizure or use for a military purpose. The distinction between a riot (covered) and an insurrection (excluded) turns on the character of the event, not on how destructive it was. A violent night of unrest in a city and an organized effort to overthrow authority are different things, and the exclusion reads as aimed at the second.

Whether any particular event falls on one side or the other would be decided on the facts and the law of your state, and the form gives no test. The 2020 unrest shows how the industry treated it in practice: Verisk's Property Claim Services (PCS) estimated that cumulative insured losses from civil unrest in the United States would top $2 billion in 2020, the costliest year for such losses since PCS began keeping records. Those were insured losses, meaning policies responded. If an insurer ever denied your claim by citing the war exclusion for ordinary urban unrest, that would be a reason to ask for the denial in writing, request the exact policy language relied on, and contact your state insurance department or an attorney.

Two other exclusions can come up:

• Governmental action. The form excludes destruction, confiscation or seizure of your property by order of a governmental or public authority. It carves out acts taken at the time of a fire to prevent its spread, if the fire loss would itself be covered.
• Intentional loss. If an insured person commits or conspires to commit an act with the intent to cause a loss, the form says no insured is entitled to coverage for that loss, even insureds who had no part in it.

If you cannot stay in the house

Fire and vandalism can make a house unfit to live in, and that triggers loss of use under Coverage D. The policy pays the extra cost of living elsewhere, such as a hotel or short-term rental, while the covered repairs are made. loss of use and additional living expenses covers the mechanics.

Civil unrest creates a second situation that the form handles separately. Coverage D includes "Civil Authority Prohibits Use": if a civil authority bars you from your home because a covered peril damaged neighboring premises, the policy covers additional living expense and fair rental value for no more than two weeks. Two details limit this. The prohibition must result from direct damage to neighboring premises by a covered peril, so a citywide curfew by itself does not trigger it. And the benefit stops at two weeks even if the order lasts longer.

Where homeowners hit gaps

Vacancy. On Coverages A and B, the HO-3 does not pay for vandalism and malicious mischief, or for ensuing loss from intentional wrongful acts in the course of it, if the dwelling has been vacant for more than 60 consecutive days before the loss. A home under construction is not considered vacant. That limit is specific to vandalism. If the house sits empty, also read the vacancy conditions in your own policy, and ask about a vacant-dwelling form.

Special limits on stolen property. Looting losses run into the special limits of liability. In the 2011 HO-3, money and coins are limited to $200, jewelry and watches to $1,500 for theft, firearms to $2,500 for theft, and silverware to $2,500 for theft. Scheduled items sit outside those limits if you have insured them separately on a floater. ISO's newer 2022 forms raise several of these limits (jewelry theft to $2,000 and money to $300, for example), but they are only starting to reach policyholders: North Carolina's version takes effect June 1, 2027. Your declarations page and policy jacket show which edition you have.

Cash-value payment for belongings. Unless you added a personal property replacement cost endorsement, the HO-3 pays actual cash value for contents, so a stolen five-year-old television is paid at depreciated value.

Business property. Property used primarily for business on the residence premises is limited to $2,500 under the HO-3. Inventory kept at home for a side business usually needs its own coverage.

Deductible. Riot, vandalism and theft are subject to your regular deductible. If the loss is a single broken window and a stolen bicycle, the total may fall below your deductible and the claim will pay nothing.

Renters, condo owners and landlords. The HO-4 and HO-6 forms use the same named perils for your belongings, so the coverage is the same on the personal property side. If you own a rental property insured under a dwelling fire form rather than a homeowners form, check whether riot is listed. Basic dwelling forms cover fewer perils.

What lenders require

If you have a mortgage, the lender cares whether riot is covered. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide, section B7-3-02 (version dated August 5, 2026), says a one-to-four-unit property's policy should be written on a special coverage form or equivalent and lists riot or civil commotion among the minimum perils, along with fire or lightning, explosion, windstorm, hail, smoke, aircraft and vehicles. If a required peril is excluded or limited, the borrower must get acceptable coverage for it, for example through a stand-alone policy. The Fannie Mae section is the source, and the standard HO-3 includes the peril. The point to check is whether an endorsement or a nonstandard form on your policy removes or limits it.

A hypothetical riot claim

Say your dwelling limit is $400,000, your home is insured to value, your all-other-perils deductible is $1,000, and one night of unrest produces the damage below. The figures are invented to show how the pieces combine.

The house is paid in full because Coverage A pays for direct physical loss and nothing excludes it. The gaps are all in the contents. A $3,000 watch on a floater, with its own appraisal, would have been paid differently.

Steps after riot or fire damage

1. Get safe. Stay out of a fire-damaged structure until the fire department says it is safe.
2. File a police report and keep the report number. Insurers ask for it on theft and vandalism claims, and the HO-3's duties after loss require you to notify the police in case of loss by theft.
3. Photograph and video everything before you clean up, including the street side and any neighbor damage that affects access.
4. Report the claim to your insurer or agent as soon as you can. Name every type of damage: fire, vandalism, theft and smoke.
5. Protect the property from further damage. Board up windows and doors, tarp the roof, and keep every receipt. The "Reasonable Repairs" additional coverage pays the cost of necessary measures to protect covered property from further damage. See reasonable repairs: what you can fix before the adjuster comes.
6. Build the contents list with the home inventory builder: item, age, price and any receipts or photos from before the loss.
7. Ask about living expenses if the house is not livable, and keep hotel and meal receipts.
8. Track the process with the home insurance claim checklist, and write down the date and name of everyone you speak to.

Your insurer may try to recover its payment from whoever is responsible, a process called subrogation. That is the insurer's work, and it does not delay your payment. Ask whether your deductible would be reimbursed if the insurer recovers anything.

Why riot is on the list

Riot coverage has a history that explains why every standard form still carries it. In the 1960s, urban riots produced insured losses that insurers had not priced for, and many pulled back from affected neighborhoods. The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association's own account describes FAIR plan programs as the outgrowth of three years of rioting in American cities beginning with Watts in 1965, and says Congress passed legislation in 1968 that authorized FAIR plans and made federal riot reinsurance available to insurers. FAIR plans still operate in many states as insurers of last resort.

Key takeaways

• The ISO HO-3 covers riot and civil commotion for your belongings as a named peril and covers your house and other structures under open perils, unless an exclusion applies.
• The war exclusion, which includes civil war, insurrection, rebellion and revolution, is the line that separates excluded events from covered unrest.
• Most riot claims are really fire, vandalism and theft claims, and the gaps are the usual ones: special limits on cash and jewelry, actual cash value on contents, and the 60-day vacancy limit on vandalism.
• A civil authority order that bars you from your home is covered for up to two weeks, but only when covered damage to neighboring premises caused it.
• Photograph first, file a police report, protect the property and keep receipts, and check your own policy language because forms differ by insurer and state.