5 Common Homeowners Insurance Myths
Homeowners Insurance Is Required By Law:
No. Homeowners insurance is not required by law in any of the fifty states. However,
if you do get a loan on your home, the Mortgage company or Loan company may
require you to have coverage on your home prior to final closing date.
Homeowners Insurance Is Not Needed. I Can Fix The House & Repairs Myself:
Possible: If you are a licensed contractor, or construction worker, you may have the knowledge and skills to make the needed repairs, but are you able to afford this fix?
Most do not know the actual cost of fixing items in a home. This can get awfully expensive, especially now as the increase in goods continues to go up.
Some items that get damaged, based on the occurrence, may not even require you to pay the deductible prior to having it fixed.
If you are unsure if you want to turn this into your insurance company, why not go ahead and file the claim, have the adjuster come out and look at the damage, and see if its worth following through with the claim. If not, you can always change your mind prior to having the damage fixed and do the work yourself.
This information will stay on file for you and your insurance company but will not likely cause any increase in your coverage.
My Injuries At Home Will Be Covered By My Homeowners Insurance:
No: If you are injured at home, then this would be covered by your health insurance and you, personally.
If someone that does not live in the home, gets injured, then yes, that is when your homeowners’ coverage will apply.
There are two parts of your homeowners’ coverage that will help with injury to others at your home.
- Personal Liability Insurance – This covers medical claims as well as legal fees. There are different amounts that you can choose with this coverage, such as $100,000 up to $500,000 depending on your insurance company and coverages available to you in your area.
- Medical Payments – This will cover small medical claims from visitors injured on your property. This is known as Coverage F. As a homeowner, you can choose any amount from $1,000 – $5,000. This is up to you.
Flooding Is Covered By Standard Homeowners Insurance
No: Most homeowners need to understand, that this is not the case. With standard homeowners’ coverage, Flood is not included. Even if you live in an area that is known to flood, this is not an automatic coverage that you have when purchasing homeowners’ insurance.
When you call for insurance quotes, and this is a coverage that you would be interested in getting, you need to ask more questions about the flood coverage. Is this covered in your plan or is an extra coverage that you will need to get on top of your homeowners’ insurance. Flood coverage can also be quoted for you at the same time, so you know fully what you are signing up for before its too late and you do not have the coverage that you need.
Homeowners Insurance Will Replace All Of My Stolen Items
No: There are limits set by Insurance companies on what will paid out for items within your home (valuable items, jewelry, art collections, expensive electronic equipment). When you select your coverage, make sure you understand what these limits are.
If you feel that the limits do not meet your needs, you can add additional coverage for specific items. This can be done when you first purchase your policy or even after you have your policy, and you get a new piece of artwork that needs additional coverage due to the value of it.
A good example is Jewelry. The limit on your standard policy for Jewry may be $2,500. If you know that you have items that are more valuable than this limit, then you can add these items separately, with the appraisal amounts and more details about each item needing additional coverage.
What you need to keep in mind, is always ask questions if you are unsure about the coverage, you are purchasing or even already have. Your agent does not know your personal needs unless you tell them.
