Condo insurance denying claim for damage by a wild squirrel

A wild squirrel got into my condo and did a significant amount of damage.  It chewed up carpet, broke window blinds and chewed up wood on doors and windows.  The insurance agency is denying my claim stating that it is not a "covered peril" in my policy.  I do not see any exclusions in the policy so do not understand why it would not be covered.  Do I have any recourse in the case?

kkm.9:

I do not see any exclusions in the policy

You don't see ANY exclusions in the policy.

There is a whole list of them under your property coverages, including an exclusion for damage caused by:

"Birds, vermin, rodents, or insects."

The biological classification of squirrel is:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Sciuromorpha
Family: Sciuridae

Rodentia means rodents.

Please take another look in the policy.

If you still have trouble finding the exclusion, let me know and I'll tell you where to look.

There is a section for exclusions but I do not see anything pertaining to rodents or vermin.  Following are the exclusions listed.

1. Ordiance or Law, 2.  Earth Movement, 3.  Water Damage, 4. Power Failure, 5. neglect, 6. War, 7. Nuclear Hazard, 8. Intentional Loss

You are in Section I - Exclusions.

You have to go back a few pages.

Look for Section I - Perils Insured Against.

It'll start out something like:

2. We do not insure, however, for loss:

a.  Excluded under Section I – Exclusions

b.  Involving collapse, except as provided in E.8. Collapse under Section I – Property Coverages; or

c.  Caused by:

And toward the end of the list you'll find:

Birds, vermin, rodents, or insects;

Might have a little different numbering and lettering.

And to anticipate a question about personal property, like maybe the blinds or other stuff, personal property is covered only for listed perils. So whatever is not on the list isn't covered.

I am still not seeing anything pertaining to rodents or vermin.  I will contact my insruance agent in the morning and have him tell me where it is.

Why would your insurance agent have anything to do with your claim?

You should be dealing with the insurance company's claims department.

The established claims practice for a coverage denial is a denial letter that quotes the policy terms.

Sorry, I am not using the correct 'insurance lingo'.  I did recieve a denial letter from the claims department and that is who I will contact this morning.  The letter states 'After considering the evidnce, we have determined that damage caused by the squirrel is not a covered peril under your policy, and therefore, payment cannot be made.  It then lists everything listed on the policy under SECTION I - PERILS INSURED AGAINST.  It seems to me this should be covered under vandalism and since there is not an exclusion for rodents or vermin I do not see how they can deny.

vandalism is NOT rodents --you might have been beter off it was a bear?(Not entirely rare in my area).

Odds are insurance policy has lots of fine print exclusions

kkm.9:

It seems to me this should be covered under vandalism and since there is not an exclusion for rodents or vermin I do not see how they can deny.

Let's see if I can explain this again.

Structural damage is covered for any cause of loss (peril) EXCEPT the listed exclusions. One of the listed exclusions is damage caused by rodents.

Personal property damage is covered ONLY for the perils listed. If it's not on the list, it's not covered.

As for a squirrel committing vandalism...(I think I'll just keep that comment to myself).