Home insurance protects your home against damages, losses, and catastrophes, including weather-related damage, theft, and vandalism.
So In this post we will open up to what you need to know about home insurance.
Home insurance can also protect you against liability if someone is injured while on your property that is insured.
What you need to know about home insurance:
Insuring your home should be one of the important decisions you could ever make as and adult! But before insuring your home, these is what you need to know about home insurance;
The Different Types of Home Insurance
There are four different types of home insurance that you should be aware of when looking for coverage. The first is fire and allied perils, which covers damage or destruction to your property due to fire, lightning, storm, flood and smoke.
The second is theft and attempted theft, which covers the cost of replacing stolen items.
Third is public liability coverages which protects you against claims made by others as a result of bodily injury or damage they suffer while on your property.
Fourth is employers’ liability coverages, which provides protection in case someone employed by you causes an accident while at work.
It also covers any injuries caused by those employees to other people or their property.
What Home Insurance Covers
Your home insurance policy will cover your personal property in the event of a fire, theft or natural disaster.
It will also cover any liability you may have as a homeowner, such as if someone is injured on your property.
Some policies will pay for living expenses if you can’t live in your home for an extended period of time due to damage.
Home insurance does not cover things like wear and tear, maintenance and improvements.Â
If you own a home with other people (such as with joint tenancy), all owners should be added onto the policy so they are all covered in case something happens to one person’s share of the house.
Keep in mind that there are two types of coverage: actual cash value and replacement cost.
Actual cash value means that whatever amount the insurer deems necessary will be given back to you after a claim has been made.
Replacement cost coverage means that no matter what the cost, your damaged item will be replaced by paying the full price out-of-pocket until it is paid off.
How Much Home Insurance Costs
The cost of your home insurance will depend on a number of factors, including the type of coverage you choose.
Generally speaking, the more coverage you choose, the higher your costs will be.
Typical items that can affect how much you pay for home insurance include whether or not your home is newly constructed and if it has been recently renovated, how many stories it has and what material was used in its construction (brick, stone or vinyl), where it’s located and whether or not it sits on a floodplain.
If you live in an area with high crime rates, vandalism may also impact how much your insurance costs.
Your homeowner’s policy will also cover personal property belonging to yourself or anyone else living at the house.
How to Get the Best Deal on Home Insurance
Most people do not know what they are buying when they sign up for home insurance.
If you are looking to get the best price on your home insurance, there are a few questions you should ask before signing on the dotted line.
Do I need coverage for water damage? Do I need earthquake coverage? Do I have enough coverage for my belongings?
Does my home’s value affect my premium? What is a deductible and how does it work?
The deductible is the amount of money you will have to pay in order to receive benefits from an insurance company
. For example, if someone breaks into your house and steals $1,000 worth of items, with a $500 deductible plan you would only be reimbursed $500 from the insurance company.
With a $1000 deductible plan, you would be fully reimbursed for all stolen goods. Talk with your agent about which deductible level suits your needs.
Things to Consider When Buying Home Insurance
When it comes time to buy a home, you might find yourself wondering if you need homeowners insurance.
The answer is yes! Homeowners insurance covers your home and the things inside of it in the event of an emergency.
You’ll want to make sure that you’re covered for things like natural disasters, fires, floods, theft or vandalism.
A good rule of thumb is that if it costs more than $1,000 for something new then you should consider getting insurance for it.
Be aware that there are two main types of home insurance:
HO-1 which provides coverage for your house and HO-2 which provides coverage for anything not insured under HO-1 (usually personal property).
Another thing to be mindful of when buying home insurance is the deductible on your policy.
Your deductible determines how much you will have to pay out-of-pocket for certain incidents before the insurer starts paying for damages.
For example, if you have a $500 deductible on fire damage, you will have to pay up until your deductible amount before receiving any compensation from the insurer.
How to Make a Claim on Your Home Insurance
The first thing you need to know about making a claim on your home insurance is that it’s not always as straightforward as you might think.
The process of filing a claim on your home insurance may be different depending on the insurer, so make sure you’re up-to-date with the specific rules for your provider.
Generally speaking, however, there are some things you can expect from the process. The first step is calling your insurer and telling them what happened.
They’ll ask questions like how did this happen and where were you when it occurred?
Next, they’ll send someone out to investigate the incident. Once they’ve determined whether or not your claim is valid, they’ll let you know if any damage was covered by insurance or if repairs will need to come out of pocket.
If repairs cost more than $5,000 dollars (or $2,500 in cases where the damage was caused by flooding), they will also contact their legal department before proceeding.