On a homeowners policy, “other structures” is the line of coverage — usually labeled Coverage B — that pays to repair or rebuild the detached buildings and permanent features on your property. Think of a detached garage, a shed, a fence, a gazebo, an in-ground pool, a retaining wall, or a guesthouse. The standard limit is 10% of your dwelling coverage, so a home insured for $400,000 comes with $40,000 for everything detached, combined. That default handles a basic shed easily. It falls short fast once you add a real garage, a pool, or ground-mounted solar.
What Counts as an Other Structure
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners defines these as structures on the residence premises that are either separated from the dwelling by clear space or connected to it only by a fence, wall, wire, or similar link — not otherwise attached.1National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Homeowners Market Data Call – 2025 Updated Definitions The “connected only by a fence” piece trips people up. A garage that shares a wall with your house is part of the dwelling under Coverage A. The same garage across the driveway, with a fence running to it, is a separate structure under Coverage B.
Structures that typically qualify:
- Detached garages and carports
- Storage and tool sheds
- Guesthouses and accessory dwelling units
- Fences and gates
- Driveways, sidewalks, and retaining walls
- In-ground swimming pools, when not attached to the dwelling
- Gazebos and pergolas
- Detached workshops
The structure has to be on the same property as your insured home. A storage unit you rent across town or a cabin on a separate lot doesn’t count. It also needs to be permanent. A pop-up canopy or a portable basketball hoop doesn’t qualify.
What Coverage B Does Not Include
Trees, shrubs, and landscaping are the usual point of confusion. They aren’t other structures. Most policies cover them under a separate additional coverages provision, usually capped at 5% of your dwelling limit with a per-item cap of roughly $500 to $750 per tree or shrub. If a windstorm takes down three mature trees and your detached fence in the same event, the fence goes through Coverage B and the trees go through that other provision.
Anything physically attached to your house — an attached garage, a deck off the back door, a sunroom addition — falls under Coverage A, not Coverage B. The dividing line is structural attachment. If removing the structure would mean cutting into the house, it’s part of the dwelling.
How Much Coverage You Get
The standard limit is 10% of your dwelling coverage. On a $350,000 policy that’s $35,000 for all detached structures combined. Not $35,000 per structure. If a single storm damages your detached garage, fence, and shed, the total payout across the three is capped at that number.
For a lot with one small shed, the default is usually plenty. The math breaks down with a detached garage ($30,000 to $60,000 to rebuild is common), a guesthouse ($50,000 to $150,000 or more), or any combination of structures on one property. If your total replacement cost for detached structures exceeds 10% of your dwelling coverage, you’re carrying a gap you’ll only discover at claim time.
Most insurers let you raise Coverage B through an endorsement, often to 20% or to a specific dollar amount tied to your actual replacement cost. The added premium tends to be modest relative to the exposure. Get a rebuild estimate first; guessing tends to leave people underinsured.
Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cash Value
How the payout is calculated matters as much as the limit. Replacement cost value (RCV) coverage pays what it costs to rebuild with similar materials at today’s prices. Actual cash value (ACV) deducts depreciation, so the older the structure, the less you receive.2National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Whats the Difference Between Actual Cash Value Coverage and Replacement Cost Coverage A 20-year-old detached garage that costs $45,000 to rebuild might only produce a $20,000 ACV payout after depreciation.
Non-building items like driveways, fences, and patios are often covered on an ACV basis even when the rest of your policy uses replacement cost. The distinction is usually buried in the declarations page, and most people don’t notice until they file. If your other structures coverage is on ACV, an RCV endorsement closes the gap.
What Coverage B Pays For and What It Excludes
Coverage B generally responds to the same perils as the dwelling: fire, windstorms, hail, lightning, vandalism, theft, and falling objects. A tree on your detached garage during a storm is a covered claim. A break-in at your shed is covered too — the structural damage under Coverage B, the stolen tools under Coverage C (personal property).
The exclusions are where real losses happen.
Flood and Earthquake
Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage to any structure, detached ones included.3National Flood Insurance Program. Buy a Flood Insurance Policy You’d need a separate flood policy. The National Flood Insurance Program covers a detached garage, but only up to 10% of your building coverage limit, and that amount is carved out of the total available for the main home.4National Flood Insurance Program. Types of Coverage NFIP maximum residential building coverage is $250,000, so the most you could put toward a detached garage under that program is $25,000.
Earthquake damage is also excluded from standard policies. In a seismically active area, a separate earthquake policy or endorsement is the only route to protecting detached structures against that risk.
Wear, Rot, and Pests
Insurers won’t pay for damage from neglect, normal wear, mold, rot, or pests. A shed that collapses because termites hollowed out the framing isn’t a covered loss. The damage has to come from a sudden, covered event. An adjuster who finds extensive pre-existing rot can reduce or deny a payout even when wind delivered the final blow.
The Business Use Exclusion
This one catches more homeowners than any other, especially with remote work. Standard policies exclude detached structures used for business, whether full-time or part-time, and regardless of whether the business turns a profit. A detached office you use for consulting, a workshop where you sell furniture, or a shed storing inventory for an online shop can all trigger it.
When the exclusion applies, the consequences reach past the structure. Personal liability under the homeowners policy typically won’t cover injuries tied to business activity on the property either. A client visiting your detached office and getting hurt could mean a denied property claim and a denied liability claim.
The fix is usually an endorsement sometimes called a “permitted incidental occupancies” endorsement, which restores property and liability coverage for a qualifying home-based business. Some insurers add it as a rider; others require a separate business or landlord policy, especially if you’re renting out a guesthouse or running a higher-risk operation. Disclose business use to your insurer before anything goes wrong. Retroactive endorsements don’t exist.
Personal property inside a business-use structure is handled separately. Even when the structure itself is excluded from Coverage B, your Coverage C still applies to business equipment on the premises, but with a much lower sublimit — often around $1,500 for business property other than electronics. A home office with $10,000 of equipment has a real gap at that default.
Pools, Solar Panels, and Fences
Swimming Pools
Classification varies. Some insurers cover all pools, in-ground and above-ground, under Coverage A as part of the dwelling. Others treat a freestanding pool as an other structure under Coverage B. It matters because Coverage A limits are much higher. Check your declarations page. If your pool sits under Coverage B, a high-value in-ground pool can eat most of your other structures allocation by itself.
Pools also raise liability questions. They’re considered an attractive nuisance, meaning you can be held responsible if a child wanders onto the property and is injured. Many insurers require specific safety measures, with a four-foot fence and locking gate the most common. Some charge a higher premium or require more than the minimum liability limit. Carrying at least $300,000 to $500,000 in personal liability is worth serious consideration if you have a pool, and an umbrella policy adds another layer above that.
Solar Panels
Rooftop solar panels permanently attached to the home are generally part of the dwelling under Coverage A. Ground-mounted panels, or panels attached to a detached structure like a carport or shed, fall under Coverage B. A solar installation can run $15,000 to $30,000 or more, so a ground-mounted system can push past the default 10% limit quickly, especially when you already have other detached structures sharing that allocation. If you’re adding ground-mounted solar, recalculate Coverage B before the install is finished.
Fences
Fences fall under Coverage B whether attached to the house or freestanding. They’re typically covered on an actual cash value basis, so a 15-year-old wood fence that costs $8,000 to replace might only produce a payout of $2,000 to $3,000 after depreciation. A high-value fence (wrought iron, stone, or a long privacy run) belongs in your overall Coverage B calculation alongside the larger structures.
Liability at Detached Structures
Your homeowners policy’s personal liability coverage, often labeled Coverage E or L, applies to injuries anywhere on the property, including in and around detached structures. If a guest slips in your detached garage or a neighbor’s child falls off a ladder in your shed, the liability portion of the policy responds. Coverage B pays for the structure. Liability pays for the people.
Standard personal liability limits run from $100,000 to $500,000 per incident depending on the policy. For properties with higher-risk features like pools, trampolines, or guesthouses that host visitors, the baseline often isn’t enough, and an umbrella policy adds coverage above the homeowners limit. One important carve-out: liability generally doesn’t extend to business-related injuries at detached structures, as noted above. A commercial activity on the property can wipe out both Coverage B and the liability response.
Checking Whether Your Limit Is Enough
The simplest approach: list every detached structure on the property, estimate the replacement cost for each, and compare the total to your current Coverage B limit. Include the items people forget — the property-line fence, the concrete driveway, retaining walls, any in-ground features that get classified under Coverage B. If the total runs past 10% of your dwelling coverage, ask your insurer about raising the limit or adding an endorsement.
Redo the calculation whenever you add or improve a detached structure. Ground-mounted solar, a new fence, a shed converted into a workshop — each one changes the exposure. The premium bump for a higher Coverage B limit is usually small. It’s always cheaper than absorbing a five-figure gap after a covered loss.