A homeowner’s insurance policy gives a coverage from certain home-related property and liability risks. It covers your home, other structures on your property, and your personal possessions (e.g., furniture, jewelry, clothing, stereo equipment) if damaged, destroyed, or stolen. In case a guest suffers a bodily injury or property damage through your negligence, your homeowner’s policy may also cover their liability claims, medical expenses, and other damages. Insurance, may not be the most thrilling subject, but it is important for new homebuyers to understand the very basics and fundamentals of their homeowner’s insurance. If a house you live in is destroyed, it will be a huge financial setback to put everything back to normal.
While your homeowner’s insurance covers most of the scenarios, some events like earthquakes, floods and other natural calamities are excluded from policies. The coverage for earthquake insurance and flood insurance comes as add-ons and it is always a good idea to add these add-ons for more protection and peace of mind. Even if you don’t own a home, you still need homeowner’s insurance. Many landlords require their tenants to have coverage. Whether it is required or not, it’s smart to have this kind of protection anyway. Here are the few basics to understand the homeowner’s policy in details.
What a Homeowners’ Policy Provides?
Damage to the interior or the exterior of the house: In the event where damage is caused due to fire, hurricanes, lightning, vandalism or other covered disasters, your homeowner’s insurance will help you with the compensation so that your house can be repaired or even completely rebuilt. Since damage due to floods, earthquakes and poor home maintenance is generally not covered, you may require separate riders to get this type of protection.
Loss or damage to your personal belongings: All your personal belongings like Clothing, furniture, appliances and most of the other contents of your home are covered if they are destroyed in an insured disaster. An off-premise coverage can help you file a claim for lost jewellery. There is a limit on the coverage for expensive items unless you purchase a separate floater policy that insures the item for its full appraised value. Most of the insurance companies provide coverage for 50-70% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home. In order to determine the correct value of all your belongings it is always advised to have a list of all your possessions and their value, also called a “home inventory”.
Personal liability for damage or injuries caused by you or your family: If your guest visits you and injures himself at your home, you are liable for a huge legal and medical claim. Also, in a scenario where you pet bites your neighbor, your homeowner’s insurance policy helps you pay for his/her medical bills.
Hotel or house rental while your home is being rebuilt or repaired: Although it is unlikely to fall in such a situation but in case you need to stay out of home while your home is being repaired, this is the best coverage you ever purchased. If your house has been completely destroyed or is so damaged that it’s uninhabitable, you may need to rent another house or live in a hotel until it’s repaired or rebuilt. This portion of homeowners’ coverage would reimburse you for the cost of rent, hotel, restaurant meals and other incidental costs because you were unable to live in your house.
Different types of Coverage:
All insurance are not equal and so the least costly homeowners insurance will give you the least amount of coverage. There are 3 levels of coverage:
1) Actual cash value: This value covers the house plus the value of your belongings after deducting depreciation.
2) Replacement cost – This is the actual cash value without the deduction for depreciation, so you would be able to repair or rebuild your home up to the original value.
3) Guaranteed (or extended) replacement cost: This value covers for whatever it costs to repair or build your home even if it’s more than your policy limit.
Whether you need, Home Insurance, or Homeowner Insurance in San Diego the insurance experts and professionals can provide you with the right coverage at a price that fits your budget.
Source by Ron Morgan
