The confusing realm of homeowners insurance: explained
Homeowners insurance is confusing. All those terms — homeowners insurance, dwelling fire, renters, townhouse… what do they all mean?
We’ll explain it for you here, plain and simple. Nice and easy.
Homeowners Insurance Homeowners insurance is for homes that are owned and occupied by you, and isn’t considered anything except a standard family house. (That means no condos, no townhouses, no apartments, even if you own them!) These policies will normally encompass your entire home, exterior structure and interior property. They will financially protect you should anything happen to your house.
Dwelling Fire Insurance Dwelling fire insurance is reserved for landlords of homes that are NOT owner occupied. These policies are for landlords to ensure that their property will be covered in case of damage to the exterior of the structure.
Renters Insurance Renters’ insurance is basically the opposite of dwelling fire insurance — for the tenant of a rented home. Although as a tenant, you may not be too concerned with the exterior of the house since you don’t own it, it still houses your property. Renters insurance is for you to financially protect your assets housed within a rented home.
Condo/Townhouse Insurance Condo/townhouse insurance is similar to renters’ insurance in the sense that it is protecting your belongings inside your house. Although you may be somewhat covered by your homeowner’s association (HOA), their coverage typically won’t help you if something happens to your stuff that is inside your house. Essentially, condo/townhouse insurance will cover you where your HOA coverage doesn’t.
More Coverage More coverage is available for different circumstances, for example, if you are a collector of antique arts, consider buying extra coverage to protect these rarities. If you are concerned about any of the items in your house being more valuable and thus needing more coverage, consider having a Scheduled Personal Property (SPP) endorsement to your policy to make sure they’re insured properly. If not, you may run the risk of losing your vintage items or collectibles in a natural disaster, theft, or other emergency and being financially unable to replace it.
We understand that homeowners’ insurance is extremely confusing. That’s why we have specially trained professionals to help you with any questions you might have. If you still have questions about home insurance following this blog post, please feel free to give us a call.