I guess it's time to stop calling it "home owners insurance" and start calling it what it really is. "Show us the money" insurance because, when you think about it pretty much every catastrophe or accident that happens could be considered an act of God which could preclude them from paying out.
House burns down during a forest fire, act of God,
Plumbing explodes, act of God;
Sewer backs up, City's fault but insurance act of God;
etc, etc etc.
The only thing that isn't an act of God is injury or death on your property and then it becomes unpayable because you should have fixed the problem or not hired uninsured workers.
Hell, they've pretty much got every instance covered and if they don't want to payout they have an excuse for why not. I remember after the Barrier fire in the interior they were telling people that they weren't going to get their homes fully paid for because they were "over insured" although, these insurance companies had no problem taking the extra money in premiums without telling those same homeowners they were over insured.
Insurance brokers are on the same level as lawyers and used car salesmen when it comes to compassion or fair play. So it's now become a crapshoot as to whether they'll cover your damages anymore.
