You are an obsessive home barista. You spent $8,000 tracking down and importing a fully restored, commercial-grade 1960s Faema E61 espresso machine. It dominates your kitchen counter, hard-plumbed into your water line and wired for 220 volts.
One morning, the machine’s 50-year-old mechanical pressure stat sticks. The heating element stays on indefinitely. The massive copper steam boiler over-pressurizes and violently explodes. Shrapnel destroys your custom cabinetry, shatters your kitchen windows, and the escaping steam causes $15,000 in immediate water and structural damage. You file a claim with your homeowners insurance to rebuild the kitchen and replace the $8,000 vintage machine.
The Brutal Truth: Why Standard Policies Deny This Claim
The good news is that the resulting explosion and fire damage to the kitchen itself will likely be covered under the Ensuing Loss provision of your HO-3 Policy.
However, getting them to replace the $8,000 Faema E61 is a lost cause. The insurance carrier will point directly to the Mechanical Breakdown Exclusion. Standard policies do not cover appliances that destroy themselves due to internal part failures, wear and tear, or aged components.
Even if the machine was destroyed by a covered peril (like a house fire), standard policies pay Actual Cash Value (ACV) based on functional equivalents. The adjuster’s software doesn’t recognize a “Vintage Faema.” It sees “Coffee Maker.” They will price out a generic $200 Mr. Coffee, apply depreciation, and offer you $40 for your destroyed Italian masterpiece.
How to Actually Protect Yourself (The Fix)
Commercial-grade vintage equipment running highly pressurized steam in a residential kitchen is a massive hazard.
- Add an Equipment Breakdown Endorsement: This is a crucial rider for modern homeowners. It overrides the mechanical breakdown exclusion and covers major household appliances (like HVAC, water heaters, and espresso machines) if they fail internally due to electrical or mechanical defects.
- Schedule the Machine as Fine Art/Collectibles: To secure the $8,000 value, you must hire a professional espresso technician to appraise the machine and schedule it on a Personal Articles Floater at Agreed Value. This stops the adjuster from comparing it to a Keurig.
- Use Licensed Contractors for Install: Hard-plumbed commercial machines require backflow preventers and 220v wiring. Ensure you use licensed plumbers and electricians, and keep the permits/invoices.
The Claims Adjuster’s Secret
When a boiler explosion occurs, my first call is to a Cause and Origin investigator to check the installation. If you bought a commercial machine and wired the 220v outlet yourself without pulling a municipal permit, or if you bypassed the over-pressure safety release valve because it was leaking, I have grounds to deny the entire $15,000 kitchen claim. Faulty Workmanship and illegal DIY electrical work are absolute dealbreakers for underwriters.
The Verdict (TL;DR)
The Risk Level: Medium (Pressurized steam boilers are inherent explosion and water damage risks). The Solution: Schedule the machine at Agreed Value and add an Equipment Breakdown endorsement to your HO-3. Estimated Cost: $25–$50/year for Equipment Breakdown; $40/year to schedule the machine.
Don’t let a faulty $10 pressure switch vaporize an $8,000 investment; schedule your vintage gear and hire a real electrician.