Homeowners, be aware! That fine print in your homeowner’s insurance policy could really matter if hydraulic fracturing damages your home sweet home.

Fracking-related damage, insurance industry insiders say, is not covered under a standard homeowner’s insurance policy. Neither is damage caused by floods, earthquakes or earth movement, which insurers call exclusions.

“(Fracking is) deemed an exclusion in the same way earthquake or earth movement is,” said Mike Barry, vice president of media relations at the Insurance Information Institute, a nonprofit institute funded by the insurance industry.

So how do homeowners try to make sure that cracks won’t be discovered in their homeowner’s policy if fracking-related incidents should occur? Some homeowners may be considering leasing land to an energy company. Others aren’t leasing land but live near property where fracking is taking place. Both should begin by asking their insurance agent to review what’s covered in their homeowner’s policy before fracking operations begin.

“We would recommend that the homeowners check their homeowner’s or farm insurance before signing any leases,” said Roseanne Placey, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. “Check to see if they (the homeowners or farmers) would be at risk. These are commercial wells. You may need a commercial liability policy.

“As a landowner, do you want to bear the liability risk? And if you do, do you have the proper coverage?”

Homeowners who are leasing land to an energy company should work out with the company who would be liable if there is fracking-related damage, Barry said. The homeowner also may want to involve an attorney in such discussions.

Once the policy’s inclusions and exclusions are determined, insurance agents may advise homeowners living in fracking areas to buy earthquake or earth-movement insurance by adding a rider to their existing standard policy or buying a freestanding earthquake policy, Barry said.

“Unless you have either earthquake insurance coverage or a rider to your standard homeowner’s policy, you are not going to be covered,” Barry said.

The earthquake or earth-movement rider, also called an endorsement, could add a few hundred dollars to the policy’s annual premium, but the actual cost depends on the home’s value, said Dave Phillips, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance Co.

State Farm has set specific guidelines regarding hydro-fracking operations. The company does not write commercial insurance for businesses conducting hydro-fracking operations or for commercial properties where fracking is taking place.

State Farm does not have a fracking endorsement for private residences, but does have earthquake, earth-movement and sinkhole endorsements available in most areas, Phillips said.

“But there needs to be a conversation as to whether fracking would be covered under that, if at all,” Phillips said.

The endorsements don’t guarantee that fracking-related damage will always be covered.

So it’s important, Phillips said, that homeowners living near property where fracking operations are under consideration talk to their insurance agents before the operations begin on nearby property. There could be a waiting period before the endorsement coverage goes into effect, he said.

“Do it before fracking begins, not when (the contractor is) actually operating,” he said.

“When it comes to hydro-fracking there needs to be a dialogue, because there’s a third party involved, which is the hydro-fracking contractor,” Phillips said. The coverage depends on what the contractor is liable for, he said.

In a statement released in July, Nationwide Insurance said fracking-related losses have never been a covered loss under personal or commercial line policies, which were not designed to provide for any fracking-related risks.

“Our longstanding underwriting guideline is that we do not insure the oil and gas business,” Nancy Smeltzer, a Nationwide spokeswoman, said.

Nationwide’s statement was prompted after a leaked memorandum that appeared on several anti-fracking groups’ websites indicated that the company will not underwrite fracturing exposures.

“From an underwriting standpoint, we do not have a comfort level with the unique risks associated with the fracking process to provide coverage at a reasonable price,” the statement read.

However, Smeltzer said Nationwide will investigate all claims submitted by customers who believe they are a result of damage from fracking.

“Every Nationwide claim is reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” she said.

Insurers and customers will continue to seek answers.

“(Fracking) is a new risk, and all insurers are taking a look at it. It is an issue in evolution,” Phillips said.