What is homeowner’s insurance and how much do you need? Homeowner insurance is a type of property insurance that protects your private home. Homeowner’s insurance combines various personal insurance protections, which can include losses occurring to one’s home and its contents. Homeowner’s insurance also can cover loss of use which is also known as additional living expenses, loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home or at the hands of the homeowner. Basically, homeowner’s insurance provides financial protection against disasters.
Most homeowners make the mistake of thinking that as long as they have the same amount of insurance as the value of their home, then they have enough coverage. How much insurance a homeowner wants to put on their home is actually up to the insured. If you are thinking about purchasing a home, besides getting an inspection, you should also get an appraiser to appraise your future home and provide an estimate of how much it would cost to completely replace your home if it was completely destroyed.
If your home is valued at $200,000, and you only get a policy that covers your dwelling for a value of $200,000, then you have not purchased enough coverage if your home was completely destroyed. It’s hard to think about one’s home being completely destroyed. In Florida however, one’s home can be completely destroyed in an instant by a hurricane.
If a homeowner’s roof is ripped off by a hurricane, the windows are blown out and most of the walls of your home are not present. As a homeowner, the first time you would do after a hurricane is report your lost. After reporting the loss, an adjuster from your insurance company will come out and appraise the damage to your home. If your home has to be demolished and completely rebuilt, then there might not be enough for you to rebuild your home if your policy coverage for the dwelling is less than or equal to the value of your home.
So, if you are in the market for new homeowner’s insurance or if you just purchased a home, make sure to ask your insurance agent to clearly explain the dwelling amount that will cover your home. Make to ask the insurance agent to provide you with rates for just the value of your dwelling and rates for the dwelling if it was completely destroyed.
COHEN LAW GROUP
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