New Homeowners Insurance is often required by your mortgage lender. This helps cover them and your family should unforeseen circumstances come about that may have been missed during inspection or events that occur just when you move in.
So whether you are a first time homeowner, or you have several properties, homeowners insurance can help you sleep better. Here are five tips to keep in mind when purchasing home insurance.
Tip 1: Replacement Cost
Ask yourself, how much would it cost to replace my belongings should something happen to my home? Oftentimes, new homeowners insurance would include the market value of the home. This price is less than what it would cost to rebuild your house should a big disaster happen. You would be insured the amount the house is worth, but not how much it would cost to put things back the way they were.
Tip 2: New Homeowners Insurance: Liability
Study carefully the terms of your liability insurance. Many homeowners skimp on this, because well, how often will accidents where you can get sued happen? No one really knows, but many liability coverages cover settlement and legal fees. This means you won’t have to use your new home as collateral! Incidentally, many liability policies cover you even if the incident happens outside of your house.
Tip 3: Get Insurance for your Personal Belongings
There are many things that you can insure that are really important. Things like personal collections, jewelry, work computers, and anything worth more than a 1000 dollars should be insured. Include family heirlooms and other things you cannot live without when you are getting a home insurance quote.
Tip 4: Insure Your Living Expenses
Called “Additional Living Expenses”, or ALE, coverage, with help you pay for your hotel or apartment stay if your home is under repair. You can live comfortably while waiting for your home to get rebuilt.
Tip 5: Ask your Agent What Else Can be Covered
Think about what you haven’t thought about. Small things can often get overlooked with the excitement of a new home. If you live in an area with frequent natural disasters like brush fires in the summer, or flashfloods in the winter and spring, you should look into what protection you can get should these calamities come by.
It can seem like insurance would never come in handy because you will be careful in your new home. However, unforeseen circumstances tend to take away a lot of money. By being prepared with a hefty insurance plan, you rest assured that your new home is safe and sound and that your family will be taken care of when they really need it. If you have any tips that we missed, please leave a comment on our Community Page on Facebook!
