As a home owner, it is always advisable for you to get home insurance coverage for your home. Home insurance covers your home in times of damage, and renovation and also saves you from unplanned expenses. Getting Home Owner insurance coverage is a good investment. Although this policy is not required by the law if you need to get a mortgage, your lender might require home insurance coverage. Therefore, it is essential you get home insurance coverage as a new landlord or home owner.
However, if you already have home insurance coverage, there are certain tips you need to be aware of. Firstly, it is important you know what your policy covers and what it doesn’t cover. This helps you determine what coverage you need before applying for it. If you’re yet to get this insurance policy, do not worry this article is for you. In this article, we will be discussing Homeowner insurance coverage, read through this article till the end.
What is Home Owner Insurance Coverage?
Home insurance is a type of insurance that covers the bills under damages and destruction of your home. It ensures that homeowners get a better way of fixing up their homes after an incident. It also comes with different policies and coverage that you are to choose from and allow to cover you. Irrespective of the damages, home insurance offers different covers to help pay off the bills associated with it. However, it is needed for you to know that home insurance is different from mortgage insurance but they are both similar to each other.
What does Home Insurance not cover?
Aside from the fact that there are a lot of things covered by Home insurance, there are also some things that are not covered by home insurance. You need to know what is not covered. Below, these things that are not covered are stated for identification.
- Nuclear hazard.
- Power failure.
- Water damage from drain and sewer backups.
- Wear and tear or neglect.
- Flooding from external sources e.g. storm surges or heavy rainfall.
- Infestations by vermin, mold, birds, and fungus.
- Government action.
- Landslides, earthquakes, and sinkholes.
What does Home Insurance Cover?
Meanwhile, there are varieties of home insurance covers. These covers have their own specific functions. This means, depending on the home insurance cover you choose, your home gets protected. However, there are different home insurance companies and they all offer different types of insurance coverage. But general coverage has been identified and explained below for you to take note of.
- Personal property coverage.
- Personal liability coverage.
- Dwelling coverage.
- Medical payment coverage.
- Loss of use coverage.
- Other structures coverage.
Personal Property Coverage
In a case whereby your personal belongings such as clothes, electronic devices, furniture, appliances, and any other thing that aren’t built in the home get damaged, this is coverage for you to get. A lot of companies offer this home insurance coverage for homeowners to recover their lost belongings. Now this means that if any of your belongings get stolen, burnt in a fire, or any other issue, this insurance covers you. Different home insurance companies designed this insurance to cover different events. Some of these events include the following.
- Riots.
- Theft.
- Smoke.
- Explosions.
- Volcanic eruptions.
- Fire or lighting.
- Damage from aircraft.
- Vandalism.
- Windstorms and hail.
There are so many more, but here just a few are given for identification. All these events are covered by this coverage.
Personal Liability Coverage
In some situations whereby you get sued by someone for injuring them or causing damage to their property and you are in need of financial assistance, this coverage got you covered. Even in a case whereby you are not the one who falls into such a situation, this coverage covers everyone in your home except your pets.
To be covered if it’s your pet that falls into this, you need to get homeowners insurance coverage for dog bites of getting pet insurance coverage. However, personal liability coverage covers different events such as property damage and bodily injury to other people. But note that this insurance coverage does not cover an act done on purpose. Instead, it covers accidental actions.
Dwelling Coverage
This coverage covers your home structure such as floors, walls, roof, and windows. It also covers every in-built appliance in the home. Some include porches or decks, furnaces, garages, and so on. Irrespective of what it is, as long as it is in-built, this insurance covers it. There are varieties of events that fall under this coverage. According to the insurance information institute, some of the common events include fire, wind, lightning, freezing, thunderstorm, and hail.
Medical Payment Coverage
Paying medical bills for a physical injury you caused to someone that is not in your household is most times very difficult to do. This is where this medical payments insurance coverage comes in. Medical payment coverage covers medical bills for physical injuries caused by you to someone outside your home.
For this coverage, there is no need for a lawsuit and you don’t have to be found at fault for the incident before medical payment is carried out. If a person is suffering from a small or minor injury, you can tap your medical payment coverage also if the harm is caused by you. These two are some of the events it covers.
Loss of use of coverage
This insurance coverage is mostly called Additional Living Expenses. It is a type of insurance coverage that covers damages that prevents you from living in your home. Loss of use coverage pays hotel, restaurants meal, and other expenses that come with living in a place outside your home. As your home goes through repairs, this loss of use coverage keeps you covered till it’s completed. Unfortunately, if your home is damaged through natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes, you are not covered by this coverage.
Other Structure Coverage
This insurance coverage covers the structures of your property that are not attached to your home. Some examples of this are shed detached garages or fences. This insurance ensures that all damages made to them are covered without doing much. Unlike the dwelling coverage, this coverage covers every event that is not included specifically. So you can get covered for snow, fire, hail, wind, and any other issue.
Why do I need home insurance coverage?
As a home owner, the last thing you will want to happen to your home is bills for damages that you can cover up. Home insurance is designed to make covering the bills for the damages that may occur to your home easy. It is now a wise decision to get insurance coverage to cover any damage to your home. However, in some cases whereby you need a home loan, most lenders will require home insurance coverage.