Wear And Tear Exclusion

Insurance mainly protects you against sudden, unexpected events that you might find financially difficult to deal with. Car crashes, house fires, alligator hoards emerging from your toilet, etc. Insurance isn't meant to protect your stuff against the normal erosion over time, i.e. wear and tear.

The Wear And Tear Exclusion limits an insurance policy to big-ticket events. It explicitly states that the insurance won’t cover the expected deterioration of your stuff caused by age or normal use.

So the policy will pay for your car if an anvil falls out of a third floor window and lands on the hood. But it won’t pay for a new car, because you’ve driven your '98 Camry past 250,000 and it’s starting to kick up ominous-looking smoke when you turn it on.