Homeowners Insurance

What is in a standard homeowners insurance policy?

A standard homeowners insurance policy includes four essential types of coverage. They include:

• Coverage for the structure(s) of your home.
• Coverage for your personal belongings.
• Liability protection.
• Additional living expenses in the event you are temporarily unable to live in your home because of a covered loss.

1. The structure of your house:

This part of your policy pays to repair or rebuild your home if it is damaged or destroyed by fire, hurricane, hail, lightning or other disaster listed in your policy. It will not pay for damage caused by a flood, earthquake or routine wear and tear.In addition to evaluating the cost of your home’s primary structure, we can tailor coverage to extend to any additional structures on your property. This is a common factor that is routinely overlooked in most standard policies. The standard policy will only provide 10% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home, and in many of today’s prominent properties this is an inadequate amount.In the currently active market we recommend all our clients pay special attention to current values they feel necessary to replace their property.

2. Coverage for your personal belongings:

Your furniture, clothes, sports equipment and other personal items are covered if they are stolen or destroyed by fire, hurricane or other insured disaster. Most companies provide coverage for 50% to 70% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home. So if you have $100,000 worth of insurance on the structure of your home, you would have between $50,000 to $70,000 worth of coverage for your belongings. The best way to determine if this is enough coverage is to conduct a home inventory.

We recommend all our clients take the time to schedule and document their personal belongings in an inventory fashion. A quick video of your premises is usually the most succinct method of documentation.

Some items that fall outside the limits and scope of your homeowners policy should be insured separately either by special endorsement to your homeowners policy or by the purchase of a personal property floater. Some examples of such items could be 1) Furs 2) Jewelry 3) collectibles or memorabilia

3. Liability Protection

Liability covers you against lawsuits for bodily injury or property damage that you or family members cause to a third party. It also pays for damage caused by your pets, but again, only third party claims are covered. So, if your son, daughter or dog, accidentally ruin your expensive rug, you are not covered. But if they damage your neighbor’s property they are covered up to the limit of insurance you choose to purchase.

In General, limits for this coverage range from $100,000 to $1,000,000. According to each individual we may recommend limits above and beyond those offered in the standard policy.

4. Additional Expenses

This pays the additional costs of living away from home if you can't live there due to damage from a fire, storm or other insured disaster. It covers hotel bills, restaurant meals and other living expenses incurred while your home is being rebuilt. Coverage for additional living expenses differs from company to company. Many policies provide coverage for about 20% of the insurance on your house. You can increase this coverage, however, for an additional premium. Some companies sell a policy that provides an unlimited amount of loss-of-use coverage, but for a limited amount of time.

If you rent out part of your house, this coverage also reimburses you for the rent that you would have collected from your tenant if your home had not been destroyed.