Property Insurance
Home Insurance
What is Home Insurance?
Home insurance – also sometimes called hazard insurance or homeowner’s insurance (and often abbreviated in the US real estate industry as HO3) – is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. A home owner buys this type of policy, which provides coverage for losses to one’s home, its contents, loss of use (additional living expenses), or loss of other personal possessions; as well as liability for accidents that may happen at the home or at the hands of the homeowner within policy territory.
Typical Home Insurance Coverages
What is Home Insurance?
Coverage A – Dwelling
Dwelling Insurance covers the value of the building and its contents, not just its foundation. Typically, Coinsurance Clause states that if someone has building coverage worth at least 80% of what it would cost to rebuild their home today, they’ll be able to claim damages for a new building up to the amount set out in the policy. This prevents people from being underinsured during periods when prices are rising too quickly. Tenant’s Insurance doesn’t have Coverage A but does offer property coverage which includes everything inside your home other than structural parts like plumbing or electrical systems.
Coverage B – Other Structures
Covers buildings other than those used for business, such as a private garage. Up to ten percent or twenty percent of Coverage A can be insured against this type of risk with an additional amount available upon request from the insurer.
Coverage C – Personal Property
Covers personal property, with limits for the theft and loss of particular classes of items (e.g., $200 for money, banknotes, bullion, coins, medals, etc.). Typically 50 to 70% of coverage A is required for contents, which means that consumers may pay for much more insurance than necessary. This has led to some calls for more choice.
Coverage D – Loss of Use/Additional Living Expenses
Covers expenses associated with additional living expenses, including rental costs and fair rental value for areas where space has been rented out. Utilities are not included in this cost or rental fees.
Contact us to learn more about the right homeowners insurance for you.
Condo Insurance
What is Condo Insurance?
Condo Insurance is one option if you reside within a unit structure owned and insured by a condo association, townhouse association cooperative, homeowner’s association, planned community or other similar type of organization. The insurance the association provides only covers the outer dwelling, not what is inside your own condominium – so you may want to purchase this specific kind of insurance because it protects against property loss and liability.
Typical benefits of a Condo Insurance Policy:
Coverage for damage to personal property such as furniture, computer equipment and clothing.
Fill in the gaps of what the master insurance does not cover and can even go up if there are certain items missing from your home which will then cause the higher deductible on your Master Plan.
Personal Liability Coverage.
Interior walls/flooring coverage.
Coverage for improvement or upgrades (most Master Plans are limited just to original conditions). Usually includes small deductible and fairly inexpensive.
Contact us to learn more about the right condo insurance for you.
Flood Insurance
What is Flood Insurance?
Flood insurance covers damage caused by flooding to your home. To determine the risks of flooding, insurers will look at maps that identify low-lying areas, floodplains and waterways – all vulnerable zones for flooding.
Across America, just 20% of homes at risk for floods are actually covered by flood insurance. Private insurers don’t typically offer this because there’s high levels of adverse selection – people who buy it when they need it most (mostly those living in places prone to floods).
The National Flood Insurance Program defines flood as an occurrence where any two properties have been submerged under water or experienced some overflow from land elements such as rainwater, snowmelt and rivers; this could happen because of landslides, a hurricane or other natural disaster. However if you had earthquake coverage then it might not include protection against damages incurred during an earthquake if they cause severe flooding.
Contact us to learn more about the right amount of flood coverage for your home.
Landlord Insurance
What is Landlords’ Insurance?
Landlord Insurance is a type of insurance policy that protects landlords against losses associated with rental properties. The Coverages include coverage for the building and any contents belonging to the landlord inside. Buy-to-let insurance tends to be mistaken for Landlord Insurance, but it actually refers to a specific form of Landlord Insurance where only one property was bought using a buy-to-let mortgage; whereas multi-property insurance includes many more properties than just one, protecting them all at once.
What is Usually Covered With Landlord Insurance?
Our policies are designed to protect you from most standard incidents such as fires, lightning strikes, explosions, earthquakes, storms, floods and theft. Coverage varies by company so make sure you’re clear about what’s included before signing up for anything else. Some optional coverage includes accidents (damage caused intentionally or unintentionally), deliberate acts of damage by tenants and terrorism among other things.
A landlord’s insurance policy generally doesn’t cover anything personal belonging to the tenant, or take care of the tenant’s interests. However, a liability policy covering the landlord or property manager would be beneficial if the tenant caused some damage and was then compensated by them.
Contact us to learn more about the right landlords’ insurance policy for your property.
Renters Insurance
What is Renters’ Insurance?
Renters’ insurance offers many of the same types of coverage as homeowners’ insurance, including liability. Renters can insure personal belongings such as furniture and clothing (excluding clothes washed in machines), against fire, theft and vandalism—and from natural disasters too.
The renter is responsible for taking care of repairs they make to the home themselves; this may be a minor task, such as painting or using sealant on leaky pipes; or something more involved like replacing carpeting or adding shelves. With that said, there are still plenty of steps renters can take before signing up for their own insurance policies.
For example: what are your valuable items worth? Can you really afford to replace everything if they’re destroyed in a fire? What will happen if someone sues you because they fall down the stairs while walking through your house late at night?
Contact us to learn more about the right renters insurance policy for you.
