What Does the Typical Home Insurance Policy Cover?
There are few subjects that are as important and yet so misunderstood by home buyers as home insurance. Insurers aren’t making things easier either, and will often purposely complicate the language in policies to reduce the number of claims. This is why it’s essential for homebuyers to know exactly what’s in their contract, and ask the right questions. However, while most policies are different, they usually have a few things in common that they cover. Let’s take a look at which things are covered – and those that aren’t – by your average home insurance policy.
What Home Insurance Typically Covers
Home insurance should cover you against a wide variety of possible damages. Your physical dwellings will be covered in addition to attached structures like your fence, shed, driveway, and garage for instance.
Your personal property is also covered to various levels. This is what is commonly referred to as contents insurance. In some cases, it might be limited to certain valuable items like art or jewellery, but you might be asked to pay for additional coverage for these items. Your typical insurance policy will also cover you in case someone gets injured on your property, or against acts of vandalism.
Fair Value vs Replacement Costs
Know that you won’t always be paid the replacement costs for an item you’ve lost. This means that you shouldn’t expect the company to give you what you paid for the item or the component of the house that was damaged. They will usually assess its current market value, and pay you this amount.
If you own fast depreciating assets, you might not get enough to replace them through your claims. So, when shopping for insurance, we strongly suggest that you take that into consideration when looking at policies.
We also suggest that you check out sites like www.quotezone.co.uk if you want to check home insurance quotes. You’ll be able to compare quotes and policies from over 50 providers and look at the details of each. All you need to do is fill in one form and they will come back to you with multiple quotes and policies to choose from. This will simplify the process, and allow you to see which policies are actually great deals when considering the amount of coverage you’re getting.
Fire and Disaster Coverage
Most policies will offer coverage in case your house suffers fire damage. Not only that, but you should also look for a policy that will cover accommodation if your house is completely destroyed due to a fire. Some policies will even cover things like restaurant bills.
Most insurance policies will also cover certain natural disasters. However, note that earthquakes are usually not covered, and floods caused by external conditions like flash floods or broken water lines aren’t either. So, you may need to get extra coverage for that if you’re in an earthquake or flood-prone area.
As you can see, home insurance is pretty simple when you know the basics. However, you have to make sure that you have the best coverage possible, and you double and triple check the fine print so you don’t end up with an unpleasant surprise when it’s time to file a claim.