Your Home Insurance Coverage

The standard Homeowner-3 insurance policy or HO-3 generally includes natural disasters:

• Fire Hail
• Lightning
• Vandalism
• Hurricanes/storms
• Explosions
• Tornadoes
• Theft (man-made)

But not:

• Floods
• Earthquakes
• Break-ins

If you are not definite of what your home insurance includes, have a chat with your home insurance agent. Bring up the idea of increasing the coverage of your insurance or extending it through floaters. Floaters give higher security coverage on valuables like jewelry, artworks, China, or other family treasures. Then remember any geographic vulnerability. For example, if you are living around the Tornado Alley, or frequently-flooded areas, take out higher coverage on these disasters. Your home insurance agent could help you with that.

Fire coverage includes $150,000 worth of rebuilding if your home is fully taken down by the blaze. If you choose not to rebuild the actual cash value, or replacement cost less depreciation, will be given.

HO-3 water coverage includes pipe bursts that damage the insides of your home but not floods and seepage. Seepage is water from the outside of your home damaging the basement or the first floor. This is definitely preventable if you only have your home inspected or water-proofed. Though flood is not preventable, flood insurance is distributed by the Federal Insurance Administration and is advised to flood-prone areas only.

Like flood, earthquakes are also regional concerns and therefore not includes in HO-3. Those who reside within the San Andreas Fault region and the likes, and who also need this earthquake insurance more, pay much than those who are not earthquake-risked.

Hopefully, this would be a wake-up call for you. Check on your home insurance to ensure your coverage. You can never know when a fire or hurricane will hit you and make you lose your property. Call your home insurance agent, check your coverage, increase your coverage and insure your home.