Home insurance is your protection against financial losses due to damages to your home or to your possessions inside your home. Home insurance not only offers financial protection to your building, but it also covers all your materials stored inside like furniture, fittings, etc. In addition, most mortgage lenders will insist on home insurance for your home too (as their money is protected by the insurance if anything happens to your property or if you default on your payments). Home insurance is generally a term contract; a contract fixed only for a particular period of time.
Who needs home insurance?
All homeowners who cherish their homes and value the investments they made in building or buying their homes, and all tenants who treasure their valuable possessions inside their homes need home insurance.
Why do I need home insurance?
Buying a home is one of the biggest investments you will make in your lifetime. Not only will your home demand a lot of financial investment from your side, it will also need a lot of emotional investment. Should anything unfortunate happen to your home or any major investment, it will not only cause severe financial losses but will also cause emotional hardship. By having adequate home insurance, you are ensuring that you will be able to avoid or restrict financial damages in case something unfortunate happens to your home and your possessions inside it.
What are the benefits of home insurance?
Home insurance will cover your losses in case your home or your possessions inside it are damaged due to unexpected and unfortunate events. It may also offer you coverage for personal liability for you as well as for eligible family members and pets if you or any of them unwittingly damage or injure a guest or their property. It may also cover the legal costs accrued because of incidences like this. In short, home insurance will protect you from financial losses if any damages are caused to you, your family members, guests and your home in the event of a natural disaster or event covered in your home insurance policy. However, not all home insurance policies will cover all natural disasters or manmade events. For example, some policies may cover earthquakes and terrorist attacks while some may not.
What are the types of home insurance?
Home insurance, generally, offers two types of insurance or coverages. One will cover the structure of your home and the other will cover for your possessions inside the structure. You can either opt for either one or both. Though coverages and rates may differ across home insurance companies, there are some general types of coverages that are offered by most insurance providers.
*HO-1 is a basic home insurance coverage that will protect your financial losses if your home is damaged by fire or lightning.
*HO-2 (broad coverage) will also cover damages as a result of theft, hail, smoke damage, glass breakage, windstorm, vandalism, riot, building collapse, damages from appliance malfunctions, falling objects, sleet, weight of snow/ice, etc.
*HO-3, which is the most popular among all home insurance buyers, will cover your home as well as detached structures.
*HO-4 is basically a tenant’s insurance policy, and will cover the possessions of the tenant against all perils that are covered by the HO-2 type. This may also cover medical expenses and additional living expenses, and offer liability protection.
*HO-6 is condominium insurance policy that will cover for damages to property not insured by the association’s policy. It will also cover the material inside the property and will offer personal liability protection, as well.
*HO-8, also known as the “Older Home” policy, is a special policy for homes that have been existence for some years.
What Do I Do Next?
Like other types of insurance, home insurance will also differ from home insurance company to home insurance company. The coverages offered and the rates quoted can differ from one home insurance provider to another. First, it is important that for you to understand what features you want in a home insurance policy. Once you have decided on the type of home insurance you need, you will need to study the coverages and rates offered by home insurance companies and then choose the right one that not only offers you the best features of protection but will also give you savings in the long run.