Home Insurance

A homeowners insurance policy is a type of property insurance that protects your home and its contents from financial losses caused by unexpected events. Think of it as a safety net for your most valuable asset!

Core Coverages

• Dwelling: This protects the physical structure of your home, including the walls, roof, foundation, and attached structures like garages and porches.
• Other Structures: This protects detached structures on your property, such as garages, sheds, pole barns, guest houses, fences or swimming pools.
• Personal Property: This covers your belongings inside your home, such as furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing, jewelry, and artwork.
• Loss of Use: This helps pay for living expenses and other necessities if you are unable to live in your home or it becomes uninhabitable due to a covered loss, like a fire or tornado. This could include the cost of a hotel, meals, and other living expenses.
• Personal Liability: Protects you from legal and financial responsibility if someone gets injured or their property is damaged on your property.
• Medical payments: This helps pay for medical expenses if someone is injured on your property, regardless of who is at fault.

Additional Options & Endorsements

Homeowners insurance policies typically cover the basics like fire, theft, and vandalism, but you can customize your coverage with add-ons to fit your specific needs and property. Here are some popular options:

• Extended Replacement Cost: Provides additional funds for rebuilding your home if the cost exceeds the dwelling coverage limit. This is crucial in areas with rising construction or labor costs, and to hedge against sudden and unexpected supply chain issues or price increases (think COVID-19).
• Sewer Drain Backup: Covers damage caused by backed-up sewer/drain lines or overflowing sump pumps that are normally excluded from homeowners policies.
• Service Line: Protects against the financial burden of repairing or replacing damaged underground utility lines on your property, such as water, sewer, gas lines and electrical.
• Equipment Breakdown: Protects against breakdowns of major appliances and home systems like air conditioners, furnaces, and pools.
• Identity Theft: Reimburses expenses incurred due to identity theft, such as legal fees and credit monitoring.

Popular Companion Policies

• Bundling Discounts: When you insure your home and auto policies with one company, they usually give you generous discounts on all policies. Some insurance companies require bundling of your home and auto policies.
• Umbrella Insurance: Offers extra liability protection, usually starting at $1,000,000 in coverage, above and beyond the standard limits of your home and auto policies. Depending on the carrier and state laws, this typically includes your motorcycle, RV, boat, ATV, snowmobile and your other vehicles too.
• Flood Insurance: Protects against flood damage, which is often excluded from standard policies. A must-have if you live in a flood-prone area.
• Personal Articles Insurance: Provides broader coverage for high-value items beyond the policy's standard limits like jewelry, fine art, cameras, musical instruments, golf clubs, bicycles, or collectibles.

It's important to read your homeowners insurance policy carefully to understand what is and is not covered. You should also talk to your insurance agent about any specific coverage needs you may have, such as if you live in an area prone to flooding or have valuable jewelry or artwork.