Home Owners

Homeowners Insurance

When looking at homeowners insurance you will be presented with the option to buy replacement cost hazard insurance or market value coverage.  Replacement cost hazard insurance will replace everything you lose to damages caused to your property, assuming these damages are included in the policy.  Your entire home can be rebuilt and all of its contents replaced with this type of insurance. 

It is important to keep receipts and pictures of the contents in your home.  If there is no proof of the contents of your home and the amount to replace everything goes beyond your coverage, then you may be out of luck. 

Make sure you talk to your insurance agent to make sure you have enough coverage to cover everything in your home. If you also have expensive jewelry, you should talk to your agent about buying a floater, which is just an addition to your homeowners insurance policy and will cover your expensive jewelry.

Market value insurance will only cover the market value of your home and its contents. This value will be based upon the last appraisal you had of your home.  Have your home appraised again if you make any additions or make large purchases. Your insurer will be aware that your property is worth more and will also cover more if anything happens to your home. 

You should go over your homeowners insurance policy every year with your agent.  If you added on to your home or made large purchases, you should make a note of it and see if you have enough coverage.