Your Guide to Homeowners Insurance

If you’re like most home insurance customers, you don’t fully understand everything that is included in your policy. Working with a trusted agency like ours is important but it’s also a good idea to take time to learn more about how your insurance works. When you understand the ins and outs of your policy you’ll avoid unnecessary stress in the future if you ever need to use it.

What protection does home insurance offer?

Keep in mind that not all home insurance policies are built the same. Being aware of what’s covered and what’s not will help you evaluate each plan. Most home policies protect instances like hail, lightning, and wind damage. If you live in a community with high crime rates, damage due to riots and mischief are often covered as well. Note, however, that in each claim you make, insurers will want to investigate.

Along with coverage for loss and damage from theft and burglary, home insurance policies with off-premise protection may cover personal items stolen outside your home. You may receive a payout equal to the retail price you originally paid (replacement cost coverage).  Or you may have it replaced for newer versions at the same price range.

You can also get personal liability protection with your home insurance policy. Basically, it offers financial protection if you or someone else gets injured on your property. Another feature is that you are covered for the living expenses you incurred in a hotel stay when your home is deemed inhabitable due to covered events.

What isn’t covered by home insurance?

There are some things that your home insurance can’t protect you from. These include:

• Earthquake Damage. Although the majority of Americans live in an earthquake-risk area, earthquake damage is still not covered by insurers.
• Flood Damage. Water damage due to flood, may it be due to rain or your sewers, you’re probably not covered. This is important to take note of especially when you’re thinking of buying a property in a flood-prone area.
• Intentional Loss. While this may be obvious, but insurance policies won’t cover expenses when you’ve intentionally damaged your home.
• Mass Power Failure. Damages due to mass power failure are generally not covered. Although this doesn’t often cause long-term problems, it may be in certain circumstances. If this is an issue to you, you might want to consider investing in a backup generator.
• Neglect. Your home won’t be covered if it falls apart due to neglect. Thus, regular maintenance must be done.
• New Building Codes. Sometimes local building codes will change that you’ll have to remodel your house accordingly. In circumstances like this, you won’t be covered by insurance.
• War Damage. While this isn’t much of a problem today, it’s still one thing that insurers won’t cover.

Knowing your policy well will make future transactions with your insurer less stressful. Make sure you talk with your agent about the ins and outs of your coverage. And never hesitate to ask questions if you get confused by the policy terms.

Cornerstone Insurance Agency is an independent agency that offers insurance products from multiple insurance carriers. Among these products are our home insurance policies that you can tailor according to your specific needs. Talk to one of our agents today. Call us at (770) 413-0807 or visit us at our office! You may also get a free insurance quote by clicking here.