Homeowner’s coverage offers financial protection against loss resulting from theft, disasters, and accidents. The vast majority of standard policies include four fundamental kinds of coverage:
- Coverage for home structure
- Coverage for your personal belongings
- Coverage for additional living expenses
- Liability protection
Your homeowners policy should pay to repair or rebuild your residential home if there is damage due to fire, hail, lightning, and other natural disasters your policy lists. The majority of policies also cover structures such as a tool shed, garage, or gazebo for around 10 percent of the amount of insurance on the general house structure. A standard policy typically doesn’t pay for damage resulting from an earthquake, flood, or routine wear and tear. When you’re buying homeowners insurance, keep in mind that you should always purchase enough coverage to rebuild the entirety of your home- detached structures included.
Buying Coverage For Personal Belongings
Your clothes, furniture, appliances, and other personal items should be covered if they are destroyed or stolen by hurricane, fire, or other disasters that are insured. The coverage typically averages around 50 to 70 percent of the insurance you have on the housing structure. The best way to determine coverage is to conduct a home inventory. Remember that personal belongings coverage includes any items you regularly store off-premises, meaning that you are covered for items stored anywhere in the world. Certain insurers cap the amount to 10 percent of the amount of insurance you have for your possessions. Costly items such as furs, jewelry, silverware, collectibles, and art are covered, but home insurance typically caps those as well. If you have expensive items you want to insure to their full value, you should buy a floater or special personal property endorsement. Standard homeowners insurance typically also covers trees, plants, and shrubs up to a certain amount per plant in the case of natural disaster.
Liability Protection
Liability typically covers the insured against lawsuits for property damage or bodily injury done by you or family members inflicted on other people. It also covers any damage from your pets, so if any covered member of the family (including pets) ruins a neighbor’s expensive bookcase, the policy covers the damage. The liability portion of your policy should cover both any court awards and the cost of defense in court, up to a specified limit.
Additional Living Expenses
Additional Living Expenses, or ALE, pays the additional costs of living away from home if you are unable to live there following damage from a covered disaster. This includes restaurant meals, hotel bills, additional gas mileage etc. you were forced to incur while your home is being repaired. ALE coverage has limits, and there may also be time limitations. These limits are distinct from the amount available to repair or rebuild your home.
Contact Us Today
As a homeowner, it’s important that you have a thorough understanding of your homeowners insurance policy and what it covers. If your home has suffered property damage and you are in need of a property insurance attorney to get you the compensation you deserve from an insurance company, call Craig Rolle, Esq. for a consultation today.