Insurance Information for Homeowners - What You Should Know
Here's insurance information for homeowners. It's basic information that you should know before you purchase homeowners insurance.
What does homeowners insurance cover?
Homeowners insurance includes the following coverages:
House structure coverage - This pays to repair or rebuild your home after it's been damaged by fire, smoke, lightning, vandalism, plumbing leaks, explosions, or storms.
Personal property coverage - This pays to replace you personal possessions - clothing, furniture, appliances, electronics, tools, sports equipment, etc. - when they've been stolen, or damaged by fire, smoke, lightning, vandalism, plumbing leaks, explosions, or storms.
Personal liability coverage - This protects you against lawsuits when you, your family, or your pets cause bodily injury or property damage to other people. It pays your legal fees and damages awarded by the court.
Loss of use coverage - This pays your temporary living expenses when your home is being repaired due to damage caused by fire, smoke, lightning, vandalism, plumbing leaks, explosions, or storms. It covers your hotel bills, restaurant bills, and other expenses until you move back into your home.
How much insurance do I need?
House structure - The amount of this coverage coverage should be enough to rebuild your home in the event it's destroyed. To figure out how much it would cost to rebuild your home, ask a local builder or real estate agent what the building costs per square foot are in your area, then multiply that amount by your home's square footage.
Personal property - The amount of this coverage should be enough to replace your personal possessions. To figure this amount, take an inventory of everything you own and use the total value as the amount of coverage. Your policy may have limits on expensive items like jewelery, furs, silverware, and computers, so ask your insurer if that's the case and purchase additional insurance for these items if necessary.
Personal liability - The amount of this coverage should be enough to cover your assets in the event you're sued. Most standard policies provide a minimum $100,000 worth of liability insurance, but if you have a lot of assets you can purchase more coverage
Loss of use - Most policies provide loss of use coverage equal to 20% to 25% of the amount of your house structure coverage. If you feel you need more, some companies will sell you an unlimited amount coverage.
Where can I get cheap homeowners insurance?
The best way to get cheap homeowners insurance is to comparison shop. There are insurance comparison websites where you can quotes from different companies so you can compare them and choose the cheapest one. You can also get money-saving articles and insurance advice from insurance experts at the best comparison sites (see below).
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/homeowners-insurance.html or click on the following link to get homeowners insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section.
The author, Brian Stevens, is a former insurance agent and financial consultant who has written extensively on insurance information for homeowners.
Author: Brian Stevens
