Homeowners

What is Homeowner's Insurance?

Homeowner's insurance provides protection against losses that can arise from owning or renting your home. Losses to your property can be due to such events as storms, vandalism or fire, or theft of your personal property. In addition, you may be liable for accidents or injuries that occur on your property.

Homeowner's insurance varies depending on the type of home you have:

If you own a home, homeowner's insurance offers protection for your home's structures, your personal property, as well as liability safeguards in case you are sued.

What does Homeowner's Insurance Provide?

Most of us buy homeowner's insurance because it is required when we purchase a home. But as time goes on and the value of our property changes and our possessions change, we can forget to reexamine our insurance policy and see if it still meets our needs.

Whether you are a renter, a homeowner or a condo owner, take some time to closely examine your homeowner's insurance policy and see what is and isn't covered. Most policies have limits as to what and how much is covered.

- Understanding Your Homeowner's Coverage: What is Covered?

While policies vary by company and from state to state, the homeowner's policy is essentially a combination of mandatory and optional coverage combined into a single package.

Homeowner's insurance is basically designed to bring your home and possessions back to the same condition they were in before a loss occurred. There are several different types of homeowner's policies offered by a wide variety of insurance companies and not all coverages are the same or are available in all states. You should speak directly with an insurance agent about your specific coverage needs.

While reading through the information below, you should keep in mind two definitions:

1. Exclusions are situations where your policy does not provide coverage; and
2. Liability is something for which you are legally responsible.

In most states the basic homeowner policy covers the following things:
Your dwelling -- your physical home (rooms, fireplaces, tile floors, etc.) and the structures attached to it, such as an attached garage.

The amount of coverage should equal what it would cost to rebuild the house if it were completely destroyed. This coverage provides protection to your home if it is damaged by fire, wind, hail, falling objects, etc. Be sure to check
your policy to see exactly what is and isn't covered. If its been a while since you last updated your policy coverage or if you are not sure that your dwelling is adequately covered, you should check with your agent.

• Other structures, such as a detached garage, shed, gazebo, fence, in-ground pool, etc.
• Personal property, such as clothing, furniture or children's toys in the event they are damaged by a covered peril (such as fire).

There are standard limitations and exclusions, so it is important for you to review all of the policy provisions carefully - before a loss occurs. You may need to arrange for extra coverage if you hope to repair or replace items that may be limited by the policy such as jewelry or collectibles.

Loss of use, in case you temporarily can't live in your home due to damages covered by your policy, such as fire or flood. The coverage pays for your housing and other living expenses (like meals and laundry) if a major loss makes your house uninhabitable and you have to move out temporarily while it's being repaired.