Homeowners Insurance
Your home is typically the biggest asset you may have and it demands superior protection. A homeowner’s insurance policy pays for many types of damage and theft. Sometimes your home may need additional coverage to insure against flooding, earthquakes and fire – as well as other natural disasters that are not covered under the homeowner policy umbrella. Even if you are renting a home having rental insurance is important but we can assist you in choosing the best policy for your family needs – additional policies or riders on your policy may be required for an additional fee.
What Does Home Insurance Cover?
Typical home insurance coverage (level HO-3) protects the buildings on your property against certain types of damage and affords you personal liability coverage.
- Damage. Your home and personal property are protected against fire, lightning, frozen pipes tornado, hail and windstorms. Also covered are losses caused by vandalism, theft, riot and any flooding caused by indoor plumbing or air/heat conditioning systems.
- Dwellings. In addition to your house (referred to as the “dwelling”), any structures on your property, such as the garage, are covered.
- Contents. All contents, personal belongings and electronics stored inside your home are covered. However, if your personal possessions include expensive jewelry or art, you might want to purchase additional floater coverage for those items if their replacement costs are higher than your coverage allows.
- Liability. You are covered for bodily injury or property damage whether you are negligent or not. Other home insurance coverage characteristics include medical payments to others up to a specified amount. “Medical payments” is designed to cover small medical bills while protecting you and your insurance company from potential lawsuits.
- Other structures. Other structures covered are fencing around your property and detached buildings such as a barn, shed or pool house. Depending on your coverage, other structures might not be covered at 100 percent replacement value.
- Uninhabitable. Should your home become uninhabitable and you are forced to live somewhere else during repairs, this situation is called “loss of use” and is included in most home insurance coverage. Limits for this expense depend on your policy.
